Study on Mahua Sub Sector - Cgsird.gov.in

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Almost ninety per cent of the Mahua flower is used for making brews. Hence tribals who collect and produce are also the ultimate consumers. In the case of Chhattisgarh, tribals are the only legal processors. But what is important is that every other player in chain is expected to contribute to keeping the form intact including colour and texture. Change of form is not desired. Every tribal household sells the collection during the collection season and purchases it round the year. But they do not have the capacity and wherewithal to store the annual requirements. Those having storage capacity or access to storage facility are the gainers in this game. In our context availability of modern storage facility or even a modest godown is limited to urban places. The state owned warehouses primarily caters to agricultural produces. To quote a premier Mahua trader, production of Mahua flower may vary between two to four lakh tonnes. However comparing the national production data, it may be an over estimation. But it speaks of the variations. Similarly price varies between Rs 12 to 24 in the retail market. Production in neighbouring states especially Orissa also influences prices. But these swings are not always in favour of the primary producers. These fluctuations in production and prices make availability of storage facility/infrastructure in an accessible place and at affordable cost a critical constraint. Currently Chhattisgarh does not allow large scale mechanized brewing. This may be a constraint in tapping the external market, both national and international, where stringent standards in manufacturing processes are expected to be followed. Marketing Raipur has emerged as the Mahua trading centre of the country with a number of services being provided. The excise policy of early nineties exempting mahua from excise led to the development of trade and business centring around Raipur. Due to a favouarble policy environment created in the early nineties, a number of businessmen took to Mahua trade. In fact some traders shifted their base from Sambalpur in Orissa to Raipur. The range of services and the organized nature of the trade in the city offer opportunities to many. However traders are not well versed with the grading and marking of Mahua flowers. Similarly inter state transit remains a constraint due to application of excise laws in certain states namely Orissa and Bihar and differential transit procedures/documents and tax rates. 4.2 Approaches by the development actors Various development agencies have tried to address the issues and constraints in Mahua flower sub sector at various points of time in varied ways. Rights perspective dominated the early phase of intervention in the sub sector. Rights of the primary collectors to collect and sell Mahua flower unhindered was an issue in the eighties and early nineties. Monopoly leasing and nationalization are now passé. PESA and Forest Rights Act have established the supremacy of PRIs and primary producers over their collection. Adoption of value added tax has brought significant change in the tax regime across the country. Hence the focus of interventions has shifted to collective trading for achieving scale, storage infrastructure and alternative products.
Van Dhan Samitis of Bastar Van Dhan Samitis are an institutional arrangement created directly under the zilla panchayat in Bastar district with the purpose of collecting forest produces from tribals and in the process stop exploitation of tribals in the trade. It started with a campaign called Imli Andolan by the district administration of the then Bastar district in Feb 1999. the then Collector of Bastar Mr Pravir Krishn was instrumental in conceiving and grounding the initiative. Self Help Groups were formed in villages through panchayats and entrusted the responsibilities of purchasing minor forest produces from villagers. TRIFED agreed to buy the forest produces so collected. A general manager level post was created so that quick decisions are taken in the highly volatile NTFP market. An SHG in Aasna village earned Rs 25,000 in just 15 days. After the success of SHGs, more groups were formed directly under the district panchayat, and these were called the Van Dhan Samitis (VDSs). TRIFED advanced funds to these samitis to purchase tamarind from villagers and sell it to the federation. The idea was to eliminate the profiteering middlemen. The district administration enforced the Krishi Upaj Mandi (Agricultural Produce Marketing) Act, which forbids traders from buying notified produces outside the marketing yards where the produce is auctioned. The SHGs monopolized the weekly haats. After a first year, market reality struck in 2000-01. TRIFED had bought more than it could sell. Moreover purchase prices were set at a level much above the market prices. The traders bought tamarind from neighboring Orissa and sold it at much cheaper rates. TRIFED could not sell and held on to the stock to get better prices and in the process lost huge money. The scheme ended in May 2001. The scheme was heavily dependent on the support from district administration. Mahua Banks The purpose of Mahua banks is to provide a cushion against the distress sale of Mahua by tribals. It purchases Mahua at the going rate or a notch above and sells it at less than the market price. The fee charged is called the storage fee. Five such Banks are operational now. The system involves following. Households sell their mahua in the bank. Price paid is two rupees higher from the market price and at the time of buying same mahua after a period of 4-5 months the same mahua could be purchased at a rate which is three rupees less than market price. Also from the profit 3% is given to Village welfare fund for health related welfare activities. 150 HH are currently selling their Mahua in five banks. In 2008-2009, mahua worth of Rs.60, 000 was purchased which was less than the previous year’s purchase of Rs.1, 07,000 as last year the crop of mahua was not so good due to unfavorable weather conditions (rains not in time). The rates of these villages have been influenced by Mahua bank as the traders/middlemen have to raise their prices to purchase from these villages. Collective marketing Many NGOs adopt this approach. They facilitate aggregation of produces at SHG and federation level and then sell it to large traders. In the process the bargaining power of the primary producers are enhanced. This approach has been adopted for collective marketing of Mahua in Western Orissa Rural Livelihood Project and Jharkhand Tribal Development Project. In WORLP, drying platforms have been constructed so that Mahua
Page 1 and 2: Report of the Study</strong
Page 3 and 4: Recommendations: Knowledge A combin
Page 5 and 6: Characteristics Madhuca longifolia
Page 7 and 8: 1.2 State Context The state of Chha
Page 9 and 10: 2.4 Major tools used The tools used
Page 11 and 12: 2.6 Limitations The study is limite
Page 13 and 14: 3.1.2 The processing sub system Pro
Page 15 and 16: Mahua Sub-sector Map Market/ Stages
Page 17 and 18: 3.3 The Policy and Institutional Co
Page 19: • Retailers keep a margin of 8-10
Page 23 and 24: Recommendations: Credit • A micro
Page 25 and 26: 4.5 Financial implications The micr
Page 27 and 28: Annexure 2 Literatures reviewed 1.
Page 29: Slide 3: Brew making in a tribal ho

Study on Mahua Sub Sector - Cgsird.gov.in

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