An Economic Overview of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Chhattisgarh: Challenges and Opportunities

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) encompass all valuable biological resources obtained from forests, excluding timber, including edible items such as fruits and mushrooms, medicinal plants, fibres, and culturally significant materials. They play a vital role in supporting rural livelihoods, ensuring food security, sustaining traditional practices, and promoting sustainable forest use. Products like tendu leaves, mahua flowers, and lac illustrate their economic and ecological significance. Chhattisgarh, endowed with dense forest cover and rich biodiversity, is a significant hub for NTFPs. Major tribal communities of Chhattisgarh, including Gond, Baiga, Halba, Kanwar, Kamar, Birhor, and Oraon, rely on the collection and marketing of NTFPs such as tendu leaves, mahua, sal seeds, lac, bamboo, chironji, honey, amla, and harra-behera as their primary source of income, while these products also hold deep cultural and traditional value. This study seeks to overview economic aspects of NTFPs in Chhattisgarh and aims to examine the associated opportunities and challenges for sustainable development.