Workshop lays focus on bamboonomics

by | Aug 8, 2019 | Circular Economy, Sustainability

Inaugurated by Union Minister Arjun Munda, the initiative aimed at empowering tribal enterprises based on skills and resources in bamboo, honey, and lac.
Share to lead the transformation

A tribal woman (representative image)

Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs inaugurated a “National Workshop on Tribal Enterprise with focus on Honey, Bamboo and Lac” organized by TRIFED and Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) in Delhi today. Renuka Singh, MoS for Tribal Affairs, Deepak Khandekar, Secretary, MoTA and Pravir Krishna, MD, TRIFED were present. Munda released flyers and reports on bamboo and bamboonomics; lac; and honey on the occasion. A National Workshop was organized to fine-tune its action plan on promoting tribal enterprise on bamboo, honey, and lac.

Delivering the inaugural address, Munda said that the focus of such efforts should not be confined to job creation only but should focus on fulfilling the needs of the market. Support system and research should be market driven and equilibrium should be maintained between the demand and supply in the market. For these products, markets should be innovation and research based. The quality and prices of the products should also be maintained properly. The tribals should be treated as entrepreneurs and efforts should be made to upgrade them in technology.

Addressing on the occasion, Renuka Singh said that such initiatives will strengthen ‘Van Dhan Vikas Kendras.’ The integration of ‘Van Dhan, Jan Dhan and Pashu Dhan’ will reform the lives of tribals considerably. Van Dhan scheme has the cluster of self-help groups to support tribals and is the mainstay for their family income who are living in and around the forest areas.

Deepak Khandekar in his welcome address said that the reason behind bamboo, honey and lac taken up for Van Dhan Scheme is that, these commodities are already having existing markets which enable producers i.e. tribal entrepreneurs catch on to the chain of procurement- primary level processing-storage value addition and marketing.

After inaugural session, technical sessions were held on the bamboo products, lac products and honey in which experts presented their presentations on the success stories, production, use and business related to these products. National Workshop was an initiative to formulate a strategy for establishing tribal enterprises based on skill and local resources available particularly in bamboo, honey and lac. In the workshop, national and international experts deliberated and gave their views and ideas for establishing implementable and commercially viable tribal enterprises. The expert insight and deliberation will explore the significance of bamboo, lac and honey to address livelihoods of tribal communities across the country. The workshop also introduced feasible technologies and process for production of value-added products from bamboo, lac and honey.

Bamboo
India is the world’s second largest cultivator of bamboo after China, with 136 species and 23 general (out of which about 19 care indigenous) spread over 13.96 million hectares. According to the Union Ministry of Agricultural and Former Welfare, India’s annual bamboo production is estimated at 3.23 million tons. Poor yield of Bamboo is one of the perennial problems in India. In contrast to China’s average yield of 50 MT/Ha, the maximal yield range in India is 10-15 MT/ha. This shows that there is lot of scope for bamboo enterprise based on the good stock. The bamboo is used in different types of products and it is a very good earning option for the tribals, for which necessary seed money, facilities and expertise need to be provided to tribal artisans. The bamboo enterprises can give immediate results leading to substantial increase in income of tribal artisans.

Honey
“As per the latest data from the ‘National Bee Board’ under the Department of Agriculture, the country’s total honey production reported in 2017-18 was 1.05 lakh metric tonnes, compared to the 35,000 metric tonnes in 2005-06. The major part of it comes from Apisdorsata. With international demand for honey growing, India exports 50 per cent of the commodity and in the last 12 years, exports have increased by 207 per cent. India has exported 61,333.88 MT of natural honey worth Rs 732.16 crores i.e. USD 105.48 million dollars to USA, Australia, UAE, Saudi Arabia. Morocco, Qatar Germany, UK, Japan, France, Spain and Italy being the main markets.

The tribals can be provided with trainings along with tools and kits for scientific extraction/collection and processing of honey from the beehive and thus the tribal SHGs can play a crucial role in this regard. Besides collaboration with KVlC, there is a need to collaborate with the forest departments for wild honey collection and protection, conservation and propagation of the tree species like Adina Cardifolia and Trivia Nudiflora that are preferred by bees to nest colonies.

As per the latest government estimates, large scale employment in the beekeeping sector is estimated to generate around 3 lakh man-working days by maintaining 10,000 bee colonies. The honey is an excellent source of earning and TRIFED is committed towards Prime Minister’s vision of a “Sweet Revolution” by way of making people prosper though production and trade in honey.

Lac
“Lac resin was once imported in sizeable quantity into Europe from India along with Eastern woods. It has been seen that the Lac is mostly cultivated by poor tribals to supplement their agricultural income. Lac cultivation in India is mainly confined to the states of Jharkhand which contribute 57% of the total production, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 24% and the balance 19% is contributed by Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal. This cultivation has proved to be a subsidiary source of income for the tribals. In the mid-1950s. Indian annual production was about 50, 000 tons of stick lac and export about 29,000 tons of lac. By the late 1980s, the figures were about 12,000 tons and 7,000 tons respectively. However, during 1992-93, Indian lac exports fell further to 4,500 tons only. On the contrary, during the same period, the countries like Thailand & China were able to increase their lac exports. Presently Indian lac export is almost non-existent, which needs to be revived. Lac with its availability and possibilities of cultivation in tribal areas has a great potential in creating livelihood and income generation opportunities for tribal communities.

MORE FROM BETTER WORLD

Cabinet gives nod to raise ethanol procurement prices

Cabinet gives nod to raise ethanol procurement prices

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for the following, including fixing higher ethanol price derived from different raw materials under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme for the forthcoming sugar season 2019–20. The ethanol supply year is from 1 December 2019 to 30 November 2020.

  1. The price of ethanol from C heavy molasses route be increased from Rs 43.46 per lit to Rs 43.75 per liter.
  2. The price of ethanol from B heavy molasses route be increased from Rs 52.43 per lit to Rs 54.27 per liter.
  3. The price of ethanol from sugarcane juice/sugar/sugar syrup route be fixed at Rs 59.48 per liter.

Additionally, GST and transportation charges will also be payable. OMCs have been advised to fix realistic transportation charges so that long distance transportation of ethanol is not disincentivized.

OMCs are advised to continue according priority of ethanol from 1) sugarcane juice/sugar/sugar syrup, 2) B heavy molasses 3) C heavy molasses and 4) Damaged Food grains/other sources, in that order.

All distilleries will be able to take benefit of the scheme and large number of them are expected to supply ethanol for the EBP programme. Remunerative price to ethanol suppliers will help in reduction of cane farmer’s arrears, in the process contributing to minimizing difficulty of sugarcane farmers.

Ethanol availability for EBP Programme is expected to increase significantly due to higher price being offered for procurement of ethanol from all the sugarcane based routes, subsuming “partial sugarcane juice route” and “100% sugarcane juice route” under “sugarcane juice route” and for the first time allowing sugar and sugar syrup for ethanol production. Increased ethanol blending in petrol has many benefits including reduction in import dependency, support to agricultural sector, more environment friendly fuel, lesser pollution, and additional income to farmers.

Background:
Government has been implementing Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme wherein OMCs sell petrol blended with ethanol up to 10%. This program has been extended to whole of India except Union Territories of Andaman Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands with effect from 1 April 2019 to promote the use of alternative and environment friendly fuels. This intervention also seeks to reduce import dependence for energy requirements and give boost to agriculture sector.

Government has notified administered price of ethanol since 2014. For the first time during 2018, differential price of ethanol based on raw material utilized for ethanol production was announced by the government. These decisions have significantly improved the supply of ethanol thereby ethanol procurement by Public Sector OMCs has increased from 38 crore liter in ethanol supply year 2013–14 to over 200 crore liter in 2018–19.

Consistent surplus of sugar production is depressing sugar price. Consequently, sugarcane farmer’s dues have increased due to lower capability of sugar industry to pay the farmers. Government has taken many decisions for reduction of cane farmer’s dues.

With a view to limit sugar production in the country and to increase domestic production of ethanol, Government has taken multiple steps including, allowing diversion of B heavy molasses and sugarcane juice for ethanol production. As the ex-mill price of sugar and conversion cost have undergone changes, there is a need to revise the ex-mill price of ethanol derived from different sugarcane based raw materials. There is also a demand from the industry to include sugar and sugar syrup for ethanol production to help in solving the problem of inventory and liquidity with the sugar mills.

Rohit Sharma, WWF joins hands for ‘Rhino Week’

Rohit Sharma, WWF joins hands for ‘Rhino Week’

Star Indian batsman Rohit Sharma is launching Rohit4Rhinos campaign, in partnership with WWF India and Animal Planet, to help build awareness for the need to conserve the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros or the Indian Rhino. In a campaign launching on Animal Planet to commemorate World Rhino Day on 22 September, Rohit pledges to do his bit to save the “vulnerable” species from extinction.

Rohit Sharma joined WWF India as its Brand Ambassador for Rhino Conservation in 2018. With leading wildlife channel, Animal Planet, now joining the cause, the team has set out to create awareness and sensitize India about the species and the need for its conservation. Animal Planet will run a series of path breaking programs during ‘Rhino Week’ to sensitize people about these gentle giants. A special page, www.rohit4rhinos.org is also being created to strengthen the campaign, through which viewers can pledge their support to the cause.

The state animal of Assam, the Indian rhinoceros faces several threats, including poaching, habitat loss and mass mortality from in-breeding and disease. (Pix: Shutterstock License)

Talking about Rhino conservation campaign, Rohit Sharma, said, “It is our duty as co-inhabitants of this planet to try and protect other species that walk this planet, alongside us. The future is in our hands and we should do whatever we can to ensure that our children are able to enjoy the rich biodiversity this world has to offer. I hope that this campaign will inspire others to come forward and join Animal Planet, WWF India and I in this endeavor to save the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros.”

“Discovery has long been committed to telling the stories and protecting the creatures that make our planet extraordinary. We remain steadfast to leverage the brand strength of India’s leading wildlife channel Animal Planet to galvanize people power for the cause of endangered species, said, Megha Tata, Managing Director – South Asia, Discovery. “We are confident that Rohit’s strong support for the cause of Rhino conservation will help more people to join us for the cause of saving these gentle giants.”

“WWF India would like to thank Rohit Sharma for being the voice of conservation and for his continuous support in raising awareness about the greater one-horned rhinos. Decades old stories of rhino conservation success in India need to be told and we believe that the campaign #Rohit4Rhinos being implemented in partnership with WWF India and Animal Planet will also be able to bring attention to the challenges that conservationists face in protecting the species,” said, Dr. Dipankar Ghose, Director, Species and Landscapes, WWF India.

Of the estimated 3,500 Indian rhinos left in the world, 82% are found in India. Once found abundantly across the Indus, Ganges and the Brahmaputra river basins, the animal is now found only in select pockets in Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The state animal of Assam, the Indian rhinoceros faces several threats, including poaching, habitat loss and mass mortality from in-breeding and disease.

With five decades of work in the conservation space, WWF India has been working extensively on rhino conservation across key landscapes where the animal is found in the country.

Rhino Week on Animal Planet
Starting 16 September as a part of the World Rhino Day celebration, Animal Planet will offer a week-long Rhino special programming including ‘Into The Wild: India’, ‘Tales From Rhino Land’, ‘Battleground: Rhino Wars’ every day at 8 PM. On World Rhino Day on 22 September, the channel will premiere globally acclaimed documentary ‘Flying Rhinos’- An ambitious project focusing on translocation of rhinos to a safe new home in a secret location. Heading the project are Jed and Bom – the rhino protectors.

The rhino, which was once seen as a strong and indomitable creature, is today listed as a ‘vulnerable’ species. Hunting and poaching of rhinos led to the rhino population of India dwindling to less than 200 in the 1990s.
WWF India is engaged in wildlife and nature conservation in the country and works to sensitize people by creating awareness through capacity building and enviro-legal activism.

UN body meet to combat desertification

UN body meet to combat desertification

The 12-day 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) begins today at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida. Briefing media persons, Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Prakash Javadekar in presence of Executive Secretary, UNCCD, Ibrahim Thiaw; MoS, MoEF&CC, Babul Supriyo and other dignitaries, expressed how mass awareness and public participation is the need of the hour. “Be it climate change or desertification, human actions have a role in disturbing the balance of nature. Now people have realized and therefore we are saying that if human actions have caused some damage, positive human action will undo that and make a better world for future generations.”

India will achieve sustainable land management & land restoration by 2030, Javadekar tweeted.

Pointing to an unprecedented global campaign to save productive land, Javadekar said 122 countries, among them Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Russia and South Africa, which are among the largest and most populous nations on Earth, “have agreed to make the Sustainable Development Goal of achieving land degradation neutrality a national target.” Javadekar also mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the high-level segment meeting on 9h September, 2019.

If human actions have created the problems of climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss, it is human efforts that will undo the damage and improve the habitats. We meet here in #UNCOP14 now to ensure that this happens, Javadekar tweeted.

There is an unprecedented global campaign to save productive land. 122 countries, including largest and most populous countries Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Russia, and South Africa have agreed to make Sustainable Development Goal of achieving land degradation neutrality a national target, he said in another tweet.

Talking about the importance of such large-scale conferences, Javadekar said, “Coming together at a world platform like this to share good stories and experiences will help the world. We can leapfrog for a good start in each country. Therefore, this UNCCD is very important and we expect some good outcomes which will be notified in Delhi Declaration. Delhi Declaration will form the future course of action.”

Echoing these sentiments, Ibrahim drew attention to the warnings sounded by recent scientific assessments and the growing public alarm at the frequency of weather-related disasters such as drought, forest fires, flash floods and soil loss, but urged delegates to be mindful of the opportunities for change that are opening up, and take action.

Ibrahim, thanked the Government of India for hosting the International Conference. “We are very fortunate to be here in India. This is undoubtedly going to be the largest COP ever organized by the UNCCD, said Ibrahim.

An estimated 7,200 participants that include ministers and representatives of governments, non-government and intergovernmental organizations, scientists, women and youth from the 197 Parties are expected. They will take around 30 decisions with actions that aim to strengthen land-use policies worldwide and address emerging threats, such as forced migration, sand and dust storms, and droughts.

The UNCCD is an international agreement on good land stewardship. It helps people, communities and countries to create wealth, grow economies and secure enough food and water and energy, by ensuring land users have an enabling environment for sustainable land management. Through partnerships, the Convention’s 197 Parties set up robust systems to manage drought promptly and effectively. Good land stewardship based on a sound policy and science helps integrate and accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, builds resilience to climate change and prevents biodiversity loss.

Fisheries key to sustainable food security: V-P

Fisheries key to sustainable food security: V-P

The Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu has said that environmentally friendly aquaculture can serve as a vehicle for rural development, food and nutritional security for the rural masses, considering the substantial contribution aquaculture makes towards socio-economic development in terms of income and employment.

Naidu was inaugurating the 5th Aqua Aquaria India 2019, India’s International Aquaculture Show, organized by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), in Hyderabad today.

“Sustainability and conservation must be the twin pillars on which we build our fisheries sector,” the Vice President said. (Tweeted by @VPSecretariat)

Highlighting the government’s resolve to double farmers’ income by 2022, the Vice President underscored the necessity of ensuring that the economic benefits from fisheries reach the primary producers, the fishermen and fish farmers. “We must reduce the role of middlemen, provide crop insurances, enhance access to credit, develop cold chains and good upcountry market linkages, provide infrastructure for post-harvest storage, handling and value addition,” he added.

Cautioning that reckless exploitation of limited resources, especially endangered marine species must be strictly prevented, the Vice President stressed that the promotion, regulation and monitoring of responsible fishing practices, through robust fisheries management and governance frameworks are essential for the sustainability of fisheries resources in both coastal areas and high seas.

The Vice President said that the burning concerns of marine and fresh water pollution caused by discarded plastics and harmful chemicals must be addressed on priority basis. Referring to the looming threats of global warming and climate change, he called for a coordinated response to tackle these issues. “Sustainability and conservation must be the twin pillars on which we build our fisheries sector,” he exhorted.

Speaking of India’s enormous potential in the fisheries sector, the Vice President stated that India is the second largest fish producer in the world with a production of 13.70 million metric tons of fish during 2018–19.

Reasoning that the rising world population is putting further pressure on the available food resources, the Vice President said that there was an urgent need to boost fish production to ensure food security to our billion-strong population.

Referring to the slogan given by the former Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan and Jai Vigyan,’ Naidu said that we must salute the soldiers for guarding our borders, we must salute the farmer for producing food for us and we must salute the Scientists for making India scientifically advanced.

Endorsing the call given by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi for Fit India, the Vice President said that it is the need of the hour and has to become a national movement. Intake of food rich in proteins, such as fish, is crucial for good health, he added.

Naidu said that with a long coastline of over 8,000 km and exploitable fisheries resources of 3.9 million metric tons, India is blessed with vast aquatic resources with a rich diversity of fish fauna for sustainable utilization. He added that India’s vast and diverse aquatic resources offered an excellent opportunity for expansion of aquaculture.

The Vice President also pointed out that globally, aquaculture is being looked upon as the best alternative to boost fish production, as the production from the traditional and marine fisheries have been stagnating.
Expressing concern that India exploits only a fraction of the aquaculture potential that is available to it, he said that there is room for both horizontal and vertical expansion in the fisheries sector. He also spoke about the immense potential India has in the field of mariculture.

Referring to the need for diversifying aquaculture, Naidu said that cage culture in floating or fixed cages and pen culture would help us meet this objective. The Vice President suggested that our future outlook must focus not on increasing our fishing efforts in the seas, but on judicious use of the declining fishery resources by reducing losses and focusing on value addition.

Stating that fisheries and aquaculture are multidisciplinary subjects where scientists and technologists have to work as teams, Naidu said that initiatives like Aqua Aquaria must not only serve as platforms for sharing knowledge and information on new technologies but also strive to take this knowledge to the common people, fish farmers and primary producers.

Referring to the role played by modern technology in enhancing production and productivity, the Vice President said that greater R&D support with strong linkages between research and development agencies was the need of the hour.

He congratulated MPEDA for organizing the 3-day exposition and expressed hope that such events would help giving a renewed impetus to the sector by infusing new ideas and advanced technology.
The Vice President inaugurated the MPEDA-RGCA Exhibition and the Business to Business Exhibition and went around the same.

The Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Marketing, Andhra Pradesh, Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao; the Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Telangana, T Srinivasa Yadav; the Chairman, MPEDA, KS Srinivas and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Mahindra’s Plant a Tree campaign engages 4.5M

Mahindra’s Plant a Tree campaign engages 4.5M

Mahindra Group has said its three-month long citizens’ movement campaign #CelebrateDifferently has culminated with engagement (likes, shares and comments on the hashtag) from 4.5 million citizens. Under the Mahindra Hariyali initiative, Mahindra Group will now plant equivalent number of trees over the next four years to #RiseAgainstClimateChange.

Planting trees, including improving forest management, conservation, and regeneration, will help offset India’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, as well as providing a host of wider environmental and socio-economic benefits. As per research, more than 90% of young people agree that humans are responsible for climate change. 48.8% believe climate change is a more serious issue than war or inequality, Mahindra said in a release. Being the largest demographic group in India, millennials want to curb the effects of global warming and live a sustainable life. With millennials as the key catalyst of the initiative, #CelebrateDifferently was also conceptualized to encourage citizens to include tree plantation as part of their key celebrations. Alternately, individuals who are not able to do so, could simply like, share or comment on #CelebrateDifferently and Mahindra Hariyali committed to plant a tree on their behalf, the release added.

Sharing his thoughts on the success of the campaign, Ruzbeh Irani, President Group Communications and Ethics & Chief Brand Officer, Mahindra Group, stated, “The idea behind our citizen movement initiative was to collectively work towards giving back more than we take from our planet. Driven primarily by the millennials, our campaign has received an overwhelming response from citizens. Although campaign is concluded, we sincerely hope that #CelebrateDifferently continues to be a way of life for every citizen hereon.”

Mahindra said Citizens could continue to #CelebrateDifferently by planting with the help if NGOs such as, Grow Trees, etc. Grow Trees can help them give back to the environment by planting a tree in their name, which they can track.

As a part of the ongoing effort towards environment conservation, Mahindra Group aims to become net carbon neutral by 2040. Twenty companies of the Mahindra Group have committed to science-based targets that are in line with the decarbonization required to keep global temperature increase below 2°C.

Shah lauds Mission Million Trees, flags off EV buses

Shah lauds Mission Million Trees, flags off EV buses

Union Home Minister Amit Shah today participated in the concluding ceremony of “Mission Million trees” program organized by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The Mission which started on World Environment Day on 5 June 2019 has been concluded with plantation of 10,87,000 trees in Ahmedabad city.

Speaking on the occasion, Shah urged people to keep away from using plastics bags while purchasing groceries and vegetables. Reminding the citizens of Paris climate accord, he outlined the danger of ozone layer depletion because of CO2 and CO emission worldover.

Union Home Minister planting a banyan tree on the concluding day of #MissionMillionTrees in Ahmedabad. (Pix tweeted by @AmitShah)

The Home Minister recalled that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on resuming powers second time in 2019 created a separate ministry for Jal Shakti. He said that this step will guide the entire world in coming days on various fronts of environment conservation including water conservation, water saving, wastewater treatment, irrigation innovations, etc.

Shah also flagged off eight AC electric buses in the city and also inaugurated a battery charging station. Lauding the efforts of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Shah appreciated that Ahmedabad has taken a lead on electric Mobility with countrymade buses. He also appealed to the civic authorities to keep prepared for technological needs such as establishment of efficient battery exchanging stations which should be time saving and energy efficient.

Shah had written a special letter to the chairmen/secretaries of the resident societies in his parliamentary constituency to plant at least 5 trees in their society which have more than 100 years of age such as Banyan tree, Peepal tree, etc. Expressing satisfaction at the response, the Home Minister said that he has received 3,216 positive replies in which the societies have also made arrangement for regular watering and maintenance of the trees.

Speaking on the occasion, the state Chief Minister Vijay Bhai Rupani assured the Home Minister that Gujarat will take lead in the country on enhancement of electric mobility. He emphasized that 50 electric buses have been provisioned in Ahmedabad now but in very short span of time 500 electric buses will be put to service in Ahmedabad alone. He reiterated for green, clean, environment friendly and pollution free state of Gujarat.

Vijay Rupani also informed that the electric buses are indigenously made which echoes the sentiments of Make in India. Expressing satisfaction at sufficient rainfall this monsoon, Rupani said that numerous check dams, ponds and other water conservation efforts of the state government in last 3 years are now yielding good results following this year’s good rainfall.

Bijal Patel, Mayor, Ahmedabad; Pradipsinh Jadeja, Home Minister, Government of Gujarat; RC Faldu, Agriculture Minister, Government of Gujarat; Kaushik Bhai Patel, Revenue Minister, Government of Gujarat, and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

0 Comments