Van Dhan Yojana of TRIFED generating Tribal entrepreneurship in Nagaland

Kohima, 26 Nov (KNN) The Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY) introduced by TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, in association with State departments has seen prominent success story in Nagaland which is excelling in tribal entrepreneurship.

It has showcased to the entire country how cluster development and value addition can help members earn significantly higher income, said the release.

Nagaland Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM), the nodal Agency for honey production in the State, has been the implementing agency for the said set of clusters. It has implemented the Van Dhan Yojana programme solely for beekeeping activity as the only MFP in the first phase, which was initially implemented with five Van DhanVikas Kendra Clusters in four districts.

Since Honey production is a seasonal activity and during offseason or dearth period the Van Dhan SHG members remained idle. Therefore in order to operationalize the Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Cluster activity throughout the year the State Implementing agency (NBHM) envisaged to venture for other minor forest produce such as Hill broom, oyster mushroom, ginger and nut gall.

The genesis of oyster mushroom cultivation begun with a trail on few selected SHGs during the pandemic which eventually prompted the State implementing agency to embark on a larger scale after witnessing the numerous production, scope for marketing opportunities and its consumption benefits for health aspects. VDVKCs are now engaged in the oyster mushroom cultivation on a larger scale, targeting approximate production of five (5) metric tonnes in raw in the coming months with two variety "pink and white”.

Through the efforts of TRIFED, the ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Development of Value Chain for MFP’ has impacted the tribal ecosystem in a major way. Procurement has gone up fr0m INR 30 crore to INR 1843 crore using GoI and State Government Funds across the country. The Van Dhan tribal start-ups, a component of the same scheme, has emerged as a source of employment generation for tribal gatherers and forest dwellers and the home-bound tribal artisans.

For the state of Nagaland alone, 285 VDSHGs have been sanctioned subsumed into 19 VDVK Clusters out of which 9 VDVKCs (135 VDSHGs) have been made operational covering Zunheboto, Wokha, Tuensang, Phek and Mokokchung districts. The VDVKC is currently producing Wild honey, Amla, Nutgall, Zanthoxylum, Roselle, Ginger, Turmeric, Hill Broom, Oyster Mushroom through value addition of MFPs, which has benefitted the lives of almost 5700 members attached to it. Till date sales of 35.32 lakhs has been achieved by the VDVKCs helping in the economic upliftment as well as empowerment of tribal communities in Nagaland.