Impacts of Government Policies on Sustenance of Tribal ... - Samata

flower and other gourds, leafy vegetables,fruits and nuts that were collected as foodfrom the forest were mentioned by theinterviewees. Honey is also collected andconsumed. Tubers mentioned and popular inthe diet include sweet potato, tuber <strong>of</strong> thedate palm, potato, tapioca, yam,nagalidumpa, addengidumpa, pindidumpa,kondadumpa, thegadumpa, batridumpa,kandadumpa, tiyyasaridumpa, chedudumpa,taragayi (vaimudumpalu), nilludumpalu,modugadumpalu, vaderudandem, kummulu,vedurudumpa and colocasia. Leafyvegetables collected and consumed includedthe leaves <strong>of</strong> the purple bavhinia plant,charukoora, dudikoora, konkodikoora,bodantukoora, saarukoora, maandikoora,bommatentemkoora, mullukoora,gaddasaarikoora, and thagalu. Wildmushrooms and bamboo shoots are alsocommon in the diet. Nuts <strong>of</strong> the platter leaftree (adda nuts), marking ink nut/blackcashew nut and myrobalan are popularamong nuts. The adda nuts are consideredto be highly nutritious and used in severalpreparations. Mango, papaya, custard apple,jackfruit and gooseberry apart from beingrelished in their raw form are included incurries. A host <strong>of</strong> plants and their parts—bark, nut, leaf, fruit, seed—believed to havemedicinal properties are used by thefamilies both in treating illness/injuries andare included in their daily diet.Hunting, using bird and animal traps andspears, was also done, primarily during thefestival known as itukalapandaga. The mainanimals hunted during this festival are wildboar, rabbit, wild sheep and deer. Differentvarieties <strong>of</strong> birds are all hunted for theirmeat, throughout the year. Crabs and fishescaught in the streams and the edible insectcalled eetahabiding/eethapurugu (=datepalm insect) found inside the roots <strong>of</strong> thetender date palms all constitute a part <strong>of</strong> theadivasi diet and are an essential source <strong>of</strong>protein.Medicinal plants are collected by thetraditional healers and used to cure anumber <strong>of</strong> ailments, cuts, bruises and evenfractures. Plants and leaves believed to havecurative properties are included in the dietby the families and used in home remedies.These are many in number and find theirway into the food in some form or the other.Non-timber forest produce: An importantincome sourceIn the past families possessed traditionalrights over trees and entire familiesmigrated temporarily for collection <strong>of</strong>NTFP. Today their access to the forest isrestricted and scrutinised by the ForestDepartment. However, NTFP collectioncontinues to be an integral incomegenerating activity <strong>of</strong> the tribal people here.Different varieties <strong>of</strong> NTFP were collectedduring different seasons (Table 13: NTFPcollection calendar), primarily by the adultmen and women <strong>of</strong> the household. Some <strong>of</strong>the products were used both for householdconsumption/use as well as for sale, whileothers were collected purely for income.Adda leaves, hill broom grass andgooseberry were the three most widelycollected NTFP.The NTFP was sold to individual traders orto the GCC. The GCC was established in1956 to protect the adivasis fromexploitative middlemen and petty traders. Itwas appointed as an agent to thegovernment to procure NTFP from theadivasis under the Andhra PradeshScheduled Areas Minor Forest Produce(Regulation <strong>of</strong> Trade) Regulation 1979.Adda leaves an important NTFP and income source4343