Abstract
Drivers of growth in developing countries seem to be large urban centres and a supporting rural, agricultural, foundation. What this schema ignores is the substantial contribution to development made by a large number of smaller urban centres, which do not qualify as cities but are not truly rural. These small towns have high growth, employment and economic stability thanks to innovative local technologies, small scale value added product development, and a local skill base. Some of these small and very small towns have risen because of a resource base provided by their proximity to forests and access to this ecosystem which consists not only of timber, but also non-timber forest products (NTFP). The picture sketched by this quick exploration of the tendu leaf harvesting and trade in a small town in Rajasthan shows the connections with local businesses and industry, both service and manufacturing. There is a large class of people who gain food and livelihood security from a combination of NTFP harvesting, processing and other activities. This connects them to the larger international world: expert packers come to the town to package leaves, which are then transported by train and truck to other states where they will be converted into export quality goods.
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- 2.
Also see discussion by Planning commission at: http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/index.php?repts=ntfp.htm.
- 3.
NTFPs are a very wide group of species, both plant and animal, and used for an even wider range of purposes, from fodder to firewood, from decoration to religious artefacts, from medicinal plants to luxury edibles, from dyes to alcohol; building material for livestock to luxury material for the urban rich, NTFPs fit into all these categories. The species range from bamboo and cane, animals including insects, leaves of various plants, plant waxes and resins and many edible products including nuts, wild fruits, honey and seeds.
- 4.
- 5.
See Yadav and Basera (2013).
- 6.
The two halves of Abu Road, http://governancenow.com/news/regular-story/two-halves-abu-road-block. Accessed on 12 March 2014, 2.06 p.m.
- 7.
See Gupta and Guleria (1982).
- 8.
The average annual production of Tendu leaves in Madhya Pradesh is around 25 lakh standard bags, which is nearly 25 % of the total Tendu leaves production of the country.
- 9.
http://mfpfederation.org/website/content/Tendupatta.html. Accessed on 1 April 2014, 4.58 p.m.
- 10.
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/content/9732/the-Tendu-leaf/. Accessed on 1 April 2014, 4.58 p.m.
- 11.
http://www.rajforest.nic.in/writereaddata/Tendupatta.pdf. Accessed on 9 April 2014.
- 12.
http://www.riico.co.in/ seen on 30/3/2015.
References
Edwards, D. M. (1993). The marketing of non-timber forest products from the Himalayas: The Trade between East Nepal and India. ODI, Network Paper 15b.
Gupta, T., & Guleria, A. (1982). Non wood forest products in India. New Delhi, India: Oxford and IBH Co.
Yadav, M., & Basera, K. (2013). Status of forest products production and trade. Working paper, Working Paper Series (2013/1). Bhopal: Centre for Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Certification, Indian Institute of Forest Management.
Websites
http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/infobrief/4407-infobrief.pdf
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/content/9732/the-Tendu-leaf/. Accessed April 1, 2014.
http://mfpfederation.org/website/content/Tendupatta.html. Accessed April 1, 2014, 4.58 pm.
http://planningcommission.gov.in/aboutus/committee/…/enf/wg_subntfp.pdf
http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/index.php?repts=ntfp.htm
http://rajforest.nic.in/writereaddata/tandu_patta_jaipur1.pdf
http://www.rajforest.nic.in/writereaddata/Tendupatta.pdf. Accessed April 9, 2014.
http://www.riico.co.in/. Accessed March 30, 2015.
The two halves of Abu Road. http://governancenow.com/news/regular-story/two-halves-abu-road-block. Accessed March 12, 2014, 2.06 pm.
Vaidya, A. (2014). A history of forest regulations. http://infochangeindia.org/environment/backgrounder/a-history-of-forest-regulations.html. Accessed April 7, 2014, 11.54 am.
Acknowledgments
With grateful acknowledgment of the preliminary field work that was done by Dr Sarmishta Chaudhary.
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Nadkarni, M. (2017). Non-timber Forest Products and Small Town Economies. In: Denis, E., Zérah, MH. (eds) Subaltern Urbanisation in India. Exploring Urban Change in South Asia. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3616-0_23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3616-0_23
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