The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has included 14 additional Minor Forest Produce (MFP) items under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) Scheme to ensure that Tribal Gatherers get fair prices for their Forest Produces.
- The 14 items are Tasar Cocoon, Cashew Kernel, Elephant Apple Dry, Bamboo Shoot, Malkangani Seed, Mahul Leaves, Nagod, Gokhru, Pipla/Uchithi, Gamhar/Gamari, Oroxylumindicum, Wild Mushroom dry, Shringraj & Tree Moss.
- The 14 new items have been added to MSP under the ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’ scheme.
i.The Central Government introduced MSP for certain products of MFP through the ‘Mechanism for Marketing of MFP’ scheme in 2011.
- Objective – To provide a safety net to underprivileged forest dwellers.
- The scheme has been conceptualised and implemented by TRIFED with State Agencies across 21 States of India.
- It has injected around INR 3000 crores into the tribal economy since April 2020.
- Van Dhan tribal start-ups are also part of the scheme, Van Dhan along with Mechanism for Marketing of MFP scheme has emerged as a source of employment generation for tribal gatherers, Forest dwellers & Indigenous tribal artisans.
ii.In the times of Pandemic, this has further helped in improving the livelihoods of disadvantaged tribes across the country.
Recent Related News:
i.On 17th August 2020, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda inaugurated the first of its kind e-portal “Swasthya”, a tribal health and nutrition portal.
About Ministry of Tribal Affairs:
Union Minister – Arjun Munda
Minister of State (MoS) – Renuka Singh Saruta
