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Int. J. Applied Bioresearch (2014) 21:1-4.
Article ID : ijab150814101
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ISSN 2250 - 2033 (Print) e ISSN: 2250 - 2041 (Online)
Harvesting of non-timber forest products (NTFP’S) used by Malayali tribe of Javadhu and
Yelagiri Hills in Eastern Ghats, Tamilnadu, India
P. Packiaraj, K. Suresh* and P. Venkadeswaran
Received: 16 March 2014 / Accepted: 18 May, 2014 / Published Online: 15 August, 2014
© Gayathri Publishers 2014
Abstract
The paper examines the demographic and economic factors determining the participation behavior in non timber
forest products gathering in the two malayali tribal settlement of Javadhu and Yelagiri hills of Eastern Ghat forests
of Tamilnadu, South India. A total of 28 plant species belonging to 24 genus and 20 families have been identified
from the malayali community areas. It was observed that an increase in agriculture income and wage income tends
to reduce the probability of a household going in for non timber forest products collection. Hence, development of
agriculture as an economic occupation and providing the households with more wage employment opportunities
will not only add to the household income but will also reduce the pressure on non timber forest products. The
closely knitted agriculture and forestry sectors calls for a multifaceted approach for forest management programme
and keeping an eye on the development of the farming sector of the locality.
Keywords: Malayali tribals, Eastern Ghats, NTFP’s
Citation: Packiaraj, P., Suresh, K. and Venkadeswaran, P. 2014. Harvesting of non-timber forest products
(NTFP’S) used by Malayali tribe of Javadhu and Yelagiri Hills in Eastern Ghats, Tamilnadu, India. Int. J. Applied
Bioresearch, 21:1-4.
Present Address
P.G and Research Department of Botany
Saraswathi Narayanan College, Madurai 625 022, TamilNadu, India.
*Corresponding author email : [email protected]
Manuscript Type : Research Article
Received Manuscript : Via Email
Approved Letter : Received or Non Received
Funding Source: Support or Non Support
Conflict of Interest : Nil
Manuscript Full Responses: Authors
Submission manuscripts info:
[email protected]
© 2014 GTRP-GRF group
© 2014 GTRP Reserved. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
((http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
http://www.gbtrp.com/journal/ijab.htm
Int. J. Applied Bioresearch / © 2014 GTRP-GRF group / www.gbtrp.com
Int. J. Applied Bioresearch (2014) 21:1-4.
Article ID : ijab150814101
1.Introduction
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) estimated that 80 per cent of the developing
world relies on Non-Timber Forest Products for nutritional and health needs Studies on the role of NTFP in
South India indicate that tribes in Western Ghats regions depend to an extent of 50 per cent on NTFP as a
source of income, also as the major source of employment (Girish, 1998: Ganapathy, 1998: Hegde, 1996). It
has been shown that the NTFP based small scale enterprises provide up to 50 per cent of income for 20 to 30
per cent of the rural labour force in India; where as 55
per cent of employment in the forestry sector is attributed to the NTFP sector alone (Joshi, 2003). Though a
number of studies have been carried out with objective
to assess the impacts of these factors on household income and employment and they have tended to be focused in the tracts with substantial forest cover with
rich source of NTFP. But the role that NTFP extraction
plays in a society is very case-specific (Lopez-Feldman,
2005). Due to the relatively limited stock and increased
seasonal variability in supply, the rural households depending on NTFP extraction are highly prone to the
vagaries of poverty due to low incomes in the dry tracts.
The study concerning the role and determinants of
NTFP gains greater importance in the dry deciduous
forest tracts, as the dependence on NTFP and exploitation of NTFP available stock could be critical from the
point of view of forest management and welfare maximization (Bhattacharya and Hayat, 2002).
The present study deals with the economic valuation of
collection and marketing activities of NTFP and the
socio-economic characterization of NTFP collectors in
the Eastern Ghats of Tamilnadu, South India. The significance of the study rests in the face of declining agricultural base and wage income for the forest dependent
communities of dry forest zone of the state. Due to the
abject income poverty, these peripheral communities
often depend on NTFP as the sole source of life support
system in the rural and tribal areas. But owing to the ill
functioning of integrated forest management system,
unsustainable harvesting and uncontrolled removal of
forest products, the functioning of the forest management is disturbed and thus affected the livelihood of
associated indigenous population adversely.
The present study conducted in two malayali tribal settlement located in Javadhu (120 26’ N / 780 50’ E) and
Yelagiri hills (120 31’ N / 780 37’-280 43’ E) of Thiruvannamalai and Vellore districts of Southern Eastern
Ghats of Tamilnadu. India. The malayali tribal occupies 98% of the total population in Javadhu hills. It is
believed that they have migrated from Kanchipuram
district. The Yelagiri hills like an extinct volcano with
a steep rock sides and circular base. The hills contain
good soil and climatic condition.
2.2 Survey
The data of the present study were collected by questionnaires survey, interviewing and directly observation
during the field survey of the study area in the session
of 2010-2011. Total 120 tribal household surveys were
conducted by random sample of forest marginal villages of the experimental area. During the seasonal collection, local tribals including males, females and children
collected the non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for
livelihood substance. Since the collection season is
spread over the whole year for different items; the Minor Forest Products (MFPs) collection activities provide employment to the local tribes almost throughout
the year.
3. Results and Discussion
Non-timber forest products available inside forest area
can be classified under various heads, fiber, grass, bamboo and canes, edible, essential oil including those
from grasses, medicinal plants, leaves, fruits and seeds.
Some of these are very useful to the local population
for meeting their subsistence consumption need while
other is of commercial importance. A total of 28 plant
species belonging to 24 genus and 20 families have
been identified from the malayali community areas
(Appendix 1). The ethnobotanical resources not only
provide the three basic needs of life, i.e. food, shelter
and clothing but also strengthen the economic status of
the forest dwellers. These resources provide incentives
to rural poor for maintaining the sustainability of forest
ecosystem and help to preserve biological diversity and
traditional knowledge.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1 Study area
© 2014 GTRP Reserved. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
((http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
http://www.gbtrp.com/journal/ijab.htm
Int. J. Applied Bioresearch / © 2014 GTRP-GRF group / www.gbtrp.com
Int. J. Applied Bioresearch (2014) 21:1-4.
Article ID : ijab150814101
Table -1: List of NTFP’ used by Malayali tribal of Javadhu and Yelagiri hills of Eastern Ghat of Tamilnadu, South
India.
Sl.No.
Botanical name
Family
Vernacular name
Kattukarunai
Araceae
2
Amorphophallus paeoniifolius
(Dennst.) Nicolson
Andrographis lineata Wall. Ex Ness
Perianangai
Acanthaceae
3
Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.
Pala
Moraceae
4
Bambusa arundinacea (Retz.) Willd.
Moongil
Poaceae
5
Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb.
Kalatchikai
Caesalpiniaceae
6
Canarium strictum Roxb.
Kunglium
Burseraceae
7
Ceiba pentandra (L.)Gaertn.
Elavam
Bombacaceae
8
Dioscorea bulbifera L.
Valli kilangu
Dioscoreaceae
9
Dioscorea oppositifolia L.
Malaiyan kilangu
Dioscoreaceae
10
Entada rheedii spreng
Yanai puli
Mimosaceae
11
Ficus hispida L.
Peiathi
Moraceae
12
Gloriosa superba L.
Kalapa kilangu
Liliaceae
13
Sirukurinjan
Asclepiadaceae
14
Gymnema sylvestre (Retz) R.Br. ex
Schules.
Helicteres isora L.
Valamburi
Sterculiaceae
15
Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R.Br.
Nannari
Asclepiadaceae
16
Madhuca indica J. F.Gmel.
Ellupai
Sapotaceae
17
Mangifera indica L.
Manga
Anacardiaceae
18
Myristica dactyloides Gaertn.
Kattu sathigai
Myristicaceae
19
Myristica fragrans Houtt.
Jathigaa
Myristicaceae
20
Ocimum gratissimum L.
Thulasi
Lamiaceae
21
Phyllanthus emblica L.
Nellikai
Euphorbiaceae
22
Strychnos nux-vomica L.
Yeti
Loganiaceae
23
Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels
Naval
Myrtaceae
24
Tamarindus indica L.
Puli
Caesalpiniaceae
25
Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn)Roxb.
Thaandri
Combretaceae
26
Terminalia chebula Retz.
Kadukka
Combretaceae
27
Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.
Elanthai
Rhamnaceae
28
Ziziphus xylocarpus (Retz) Willd.
Kottai ilanthai
Rhamnaceae
1
© 2014 GTRP Reserved. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
((http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
http://www.gbtrp.com/journal/ijab.htm
Int. J. Applied Bioresearch / © 2014 GTRP-GRF group / www.gbtrp.com
Int. J. Applied Bioresearch (2014) 21:1-4.
Article ID : ijab150814101
Forest and forest resources, play a significant role in the
daily life of malayali. Forest provides them food, medicine, fodder, fuel, wood and wide range of Non-Timber
Forest Products (NTPFs), which are essential not only
for meeting their requirements, but also act as potential
source of income for their livelihood and to keep up
their culture and development. There is an assumption
about non-agricultural societies that they represent an
earlier stage of cultural evolution, or the result of cultural devolution (Barnard, 1999). It was supposed that
cultures progressed from hunter– gatherer to agricultural and finally to industrial. The life of ‘natural man’ was
‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’, cultural evolutionary views- distinguishing between ‘natural’ and
‘civilized’ peoples-persisted from the eighteenth to the
late twentieth centuries (Meggers, 1954; Lathrap, 1968)
We can see this evolutionary trend in the culture and
life of malayali also.
4. Conclusion
This paper reveals that a large number of the poor continue to generate income, food and medicine from the
collection and sale of NTFPs. The tribal harbours an
incredible diversity of NTFPs and the population possess a sound knowledge on plant resources. A number
of recorded species with good market potential are
abundantly available. Despite their potential, the contribution of NTFPs to local economy is still negligible. It
is urged to grab the opportunities while addressing the
challenges for the sustainable management and commercialization of these valuable products. Their role
becomes more significant for less agricultural dependent communities with small land holdings residing in
remote forests. Non-timber forest products provide far
greater employment to the people than the wood. They
have much greater potential for providing employment
in future.
Ganapathy, M. S. 1998. Collection and marketing of
non-timber forest products - A study in Kollegal taluk
of Karnataka. Ph.D.Thesis, Univ. Agric. Sci., Bangalore (India).
Girish, M. R. 1998. Role of non-timber forest products
in the tribal economy- An economic study in Western
Ghats region of Karnataka. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Agric.
Sci., Bangalore (India).
Hegde, Ravi., Suryaprakash, S., Achoth, Lalith and
Bawa, K. S. 1996. Contribution to rural income in extraction of non-timber forest products in the forests of
Biligiri Rangan hills, India. Econ. Bot., 50 (3):243-252.
Joshi and Sapan, 2003. Super Market, Secretive, Exploitative, Is the market in Minor Forest produce unmanageable. Down to Earth, 28: 27-34.
Lathrap, D. W. 1968. The hunting economics of the
tropical forest zone of South America. In Man the
hunter (eds R. B. Lee & I. DeVore), pp. 23–29. Chicago, IL: Aldine
Lopez-Feldman, A. 2005. Panel data evidence on the
determinants of non-timber forest products extraction:
The case of xate in Mexico. Paper presented In: The
American Agric. Econ. Assoc.Annu. Mtg., Providence,
Rhode Island, July 24-27, 2005.
Meggers, B. J. 1954. Environmental limitations on the
development of culture. Am. Anthropol. 56, 801–824.
(doi:10.1525/aa.1954.56.5.02a00060)
5. References
Barnard, A. 1999. Images of hunter and gatherers in
European social thought. In Cambridge encyclopaedia
of hunters and gatherers (eds R. B. Lee & R. Daly),
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 375–
383.
Bhattacharya, P and Hayat, S. F. 2002. Sustainable
NTFP management for rural development: A case from
Madhya Pradesh, India. Int. Forestry Review, 6(2): 161
-168.
© 2014 GTRP Reserved. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
((http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
http://www.gbtrp.com/journal/ijab.htm
Int. J. Applied Bioresearch / © 2014 GTRP-GRF group / www.gbtrp.com

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