On 20th August 2020, Arjun Munda, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs(MoTA) virtually launched the tertiary processing centres of the “Trifood Project” in Raigad, Maharashtra and Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh.
The Trifood project was carried by the MoTA in association with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries(MoFPI) and implemented by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED).
Key People:
Renuka Singh, Minister of State, K.C. Padvi, Minister of Tribal Affairs, Maharashtra, Ramesh Chand Meena, Chairman, TRIFED and Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED along with the other officials and dignitaries of the two states attended the virtual inauguration.
Trifood Project:
Aim:
i.To increase the income of the tribals through better utilisation and value addition of the Minor Forest Produce(MFP) that are collected by the tribal forest gatherers.
ii.To offer a comprehensive development package for tribals by promoting employment, incomes and entrepreneurship.
Features:
i.In association with the MoFPI, the units under the scheme will be set up for creation of backward and forward linkages under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana, this will procure the raw materials from the Van DhanKendras in the state.
ii.The tribal outlets and franchise stores across India will sell the fully processed products.
iii.The TRIFED will identify and train the tribal entrepreneurs to sell the products.
Raigad, Maharashtra:
The MFP processing units will be used to add value to the produce like mahua, amla, custard apple and jamun and produce mahua drink, amla juice, candy, jamun juice and custard apple pulp.
Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh:
The multi-commodity processing centre will be used for processing mahua, amla, honey, cashew, tamarind, ginger, garlic and other fruits and vegetables and will make mahua drink, amla juice, candy, pure honey, ginger-garlic paste and fruit and vegetable pulp.
Key Points:
i.‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’ Scheme, a flagship scheme of MoTA emerged amid the global pandemic and has positively impacted the tribal ecosystem.
ii.It was implemented by TRIFED in association with 21 State Government Agencies across India.
iii.So far, the scheme has directly contributed over Rs.3000 crores to the tribal economy.
With the government support in May 2020 the prices of Minor Forest Produce (MFPs) were increased upto 90% and around 23 new items were included in the MFP lists
Recent Related News:
i.DST, Government of Rajasthan in association with TRIFED, under MoTA, organized a Webinar under Know Your Scheme-Lecture Series on “Van Dhan Yojana : Learning For Post Covid-19” to assist tribal people.
ii.By the order of Tribal Affairs Ministry, The Minimum Support Price(MSP) for Minor Forest Produce(MFP) of 49 items was raised in view of circumstances arising out of COVID 19.
About Ministry of Tribal Affairs:
Union Minister– ArjunMunda
Minister of State– Renuka Singh Saruta
About TRIFED:
Managing Director– Pravir Krishna
Head Office– New Delhi, India
