Importance of Natural Resins and Gums for Sustainable Development and ecological balance was discussed in the inauguration of a workshop at ICAR-IINRG, Ranchi, on ‘Enabling Village Level Organisations through Technological Interventions on Production and Value Addition of Natural Resins and Gums (NRG)’ on Tuesday.
Chief Guest of the three-day workshop, Dr HS Gupta threw light on the importance of all aspects of NRG including production, processing, value addition and product development for sustainable development. He also emphasised on the integrated approach of farming for ecological balance.
The benefits of Lac cultivation for alternative agriculture were discussed, more so in context of Jharkhand where forest dwellers depend on natural resources for their livelihood. Dr Gupta also pointed out the issue of climate change and the solution of natural farming for issues of tribal communities.
The enormous scope in the field of NRG for livelihood security and earning foreign exchange were also brought up in the event by Dr KK Sharma, Director ICAR-IINRG. Lac cultivation activity has synergistic effect on environment and also supports the handicraft industry in Jaipur, Hyderabad, Muzaffarpur and Delhi as told by Dr Sharma.
Market promotional strategies of NRG based product through variation in application and design of the products were discussed by Dr SR Singh, Deputy Director of Chaudhary Charan Singh National Institute of Agricultural Marketing Jaipur. Keeping in view of global competition, he also informed that recently designed minimum support price mechanism for minor forest products including lac and ‘karaya’ gum may play important role in safeguarding the households in tribal areas against price fluctuation.
Every aspect of NRG sector, particularly lac based information will be imparted to the participants through exposure visits, demonstration and expert lectures in the course of the workshop.
Other eminent attendees of the inauguration ceremony included Dr Nirmal Kumar, Head Transfer of Technology Division ICAR-IINRG, delegates from various institutes, officials from State departments, cooperative federations and Agricultural Departments from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
