Drought hits minor forest produce

The drought has affected the yield of minor forest produce in the district. Adivasis collect minor forest produce Thuniki Pandlu, Tuniki Akulu (tendu leaves), Morripandlu, Mahua, Palapandlu and many other fruits available in the forests in the summer.

They say they are hardly finding fruits in the jungle due to lack of good crop because of no rains. Earlier, elders and even children used to go into nearby jungles and collect the minor forest produce.

A collection of minor forest produce is no more generating an additional income for the Adivasis like in the past when they used to get more verities of fruits in the forests during the summer.

The Thuniki Pandlu (fruits) have been seen rarely these days in the markets days as their availability has come down drastically with beedi leaves contractors and collectors cutting off the trees to get leaves easily instead of wasting time in fluking each tendu leaf.

Sometimes tendu leaves contractors to burn the tendu trees to ensure the growth of fresh leaves and this results in fall in the number of tendu trees in the forests.

Kanaka Bheembai, of Marlavai in Jainoor mandal, said that there is no much minor forest produce is available in the forests to collect due to lack of rains and some  

Adivasis are scared of entering forests to collector minor forest produce with the fear after forest department setting up CCTV cameras and dug up big trenches.

She said most of them avoiding collecting minor forest produce in the jungles due lack of water and high temperatures and added that a bear which came out of the jungles in search of water attacked a villager in his agriculture fields near forests few days ago in her village.