| Sanction Date: | 26-02-2018 | |||
| Project Category | MG | |||
| Batch Year | 2017-2018 | |||
| Project Duration | 3 Years | |||
| BTA : | Livelihood Options and Employment Generation | |||
| Project Site/ State/ Districts/ Villages Covered: | 16 representative forest-fringe villages of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will be the site of the project. The project will be implemented at eight places each in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand representing different altitudes (upto 700 m, 700-1400 m, 1400-2100 m and above 2100 m). | |||
| Organization/ Implementation Agency: |
Forest Research Institute (FRI), PO New Forest, Dehradun |
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| Project Partners: | S.No. | Name | ||
1. |
Forest Research Institute, PO: New Forest, Dehradun, Uttarakhand | |||
2. |
Himalayan Forest Research Institute, PO: Panthaghati, Shimla | |||
3. |
Bagwan Gramodhyog Samiti Vill- Shyampur, Post Office- Ambiwala, Via Premnagar, Dehradun, Uttarakhand | |||
| Lead Proponent: | Dr. Dinesh Kumar Forest Research Institute (FRI) PO New Forest, Dehradun Uttarakhand |
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| Project Brief Description: | Animal husbandry has traditionally been a critically important sub-sector of the Himalayan agriculture sector. It is a significant source of nutrition and cash income to a vast majority of rural people who maintain small stocks of cattle on the fodder resources available on common/ forest lands. It is also a source of manure and draught power for various agricultural activities. In the absence of adequate fodder from agriculture sector, a large percentage of people collect fodder from the forest. They lop branches of trees and shrubs, cut ground vegetation, especially grass, and bring to their homes to feed to animals. Regenerating plants of forest species are also cut or damaged in this activity. The situation becomes particularly serious during late autumn and winter. In several areas, animals are driven into the forest to graze without bothering about damage to the forest. Countless species of flora and fauna are thus disappearing very fast. They also spread diseases like foot and mouth disease and anthrax among wild animals. Despite the efforts of the Forest Department, cattle owners indulge in the harmful practice of grazing in forest as the number of field staff is inadequate to watch every place in the forest. Besides this, fodder collection from forest leads to huge wastage of time of rural women which could be otherwise is utilized for more fruitful economic activities. It also exposes the women to attacks from wild animals and crimes. It is clear from the experience so far that if the populace living near the fringes of forest is unable to meet their biomass demands, no amount of stringent policing can prevent them from damaging the forest for meeting their requirements. Hence, suitable alternative sources of fodder need to be provided. The project, therefore, intends to develop alternatives in the form of community-owned fodder banks in forest-fringe villages in representative areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It also aims at reducing wastages of fodder by promoting suitable fodder storage practices. | |||
| Beneficiaries/ Stakeholders: | (i) Local Villagers (ii) State forest department, agriculture department and rural development agencies |
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| Activity Chart (For 3 Years): | Click Here | |||
| Total Grants (in Rs.) | Rs. 94,72,000/- (Rupees Ninety Four Lakh Seventy Two Thousand only) | |||
| Project Objectives | Quantifiable Deliverables | Monitoring Indicators |
| To document the fodder usage practices in representative villages in fodder-scarcity areas; | Report on fodder usage practices in selected 6 representative villages in fodder-scarcity areas; | No. of New Database/ Datasets generated on the identified dynamics (No.), e.g. nutritional and productivity values of prioritised local species and list of promising fodder species; |
| To prioritise important local fodder species (comprising trees, shrubs and grasses) in selected villages based on preference survey of local communities; | Database of nutritional and productivity values of prioritised local species and list of promising fodder species for introduction; | Periodic submission on demonstrative models/ Protocols (No.), e.g. fodder usage-specific Practices in fodder-scarcity areas; improvement in fodder shelf life (%); Community Fodder Bank Models developed (Nos/ Area); |
| To establish demonstration plots of selected fodder species in selected villages to showcase promising models; | Demonstration plots (1 ha each) of selected fodder species in 6 selected villages to showcase promising models; | No. of Capacity Building/ Awareness Programmes/ Skill Development Trainings conducted/ organized, including No. of Stakeholders benefitted (No. of Rural Youth, No. of Women, and Total No. of Beneficiaries); |
| To standardise mass-multiplication, planting, protection and management protocols for the selected fodder species; | Standardized protocols for improving shelf life and management of nutritional values for the selected fodder species; | Policy framework/ draft (No.) for assisting the extension strategies for Community Fodder Bank Model; |
| To improve nutritive value and enhance shelf life of fodder for increasing fodder availability during lean period; | Other Publications and Knowledge Products (Nos.). | |
| To work out extension strategies for developing models of community fodder banks. | Skilled manpower in plantation protocols and fodder storage protocols. | |
| Strategy for extension of the developed model in other fodder scarce villages in 2 states. |
| S.No. | Name (Sanctioned Staff) | Qualification | Designation | Salary |
| 1. | 02 JPF @ Rs.16,000/- per month | |||
| 2. | 04 Project Assistant @ Rs.9,000/- per month |
| S.No. | Name of Equipment (Sanctioned Equipment) | Use of Equipment | Cost (in INR) |
| 1. | Vernier calipers-3 nos | ||
| 2. | Digital Weighing balance-2 nos | ||
| 3. | GPS receiver-1 nos | ||
| 4. | Laptop-01 nos | ||
| 5. | Multifunctional printer-1 nos |
