Assessment of Minimum Support Price for Economically Relevant Non-Timber Forest Products of Buxa Tiger Reserve in Foothills of Eastern Himalaya, India

Trishala Gurung, Avinash Giri, Arun Jyoti Nath, Gopal Shukla and Sumit Chakravarty ()
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Trishala Gurung: Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Pundibari 736 165, India
Avinash Giri: Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Pundibari 736 165, India
Arun Jyoti Nath: Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, Silchar 788 011, India
Gopal Shukla: Department of Forestry, North Eastern Hill University, Tura Campus, Tura 794 002, India
Sumit Chakravarty: Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Pundibari 736 165, India

Resources, 2025, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: This study was carried out at 10 randomly selected fringe villages of Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) in the Terai region of West Bengal, India through personal interviews with 100 randomly selected respondents. The study documented 102 non-timber forest products (NTFPs) that were utilized throughout the year. In the local weekly market, 28 NTFPs were found to be traded by the collectors. The study shows that without proper price mechanisms and marketing channels; the residents cannot obtain fair prices for their products. The study found only nine NTFPs that were prominently traded with the involvement of middlemen and traders along with the royalty imposed by the State Forest Department. The MSPs computed for these nine NTFPs were 25–200% higher than the prices the collectors were selling to the traders. The nationalization of NTFPs through MSPs will help their effective marketing, ensuring an adequate income for the collectors, which will lead to their sustainable harvest and conservation through participatory forest management. Introducing MSPs for NTFPs with an efficient procurement network can advance the economic status of the inhabitants. We recommend increasing the inhabitants’ capacity to collect, store, process, and market NTFPs with active policy, institutional, and infrastructural support.

Keywords: non-timber forest product (NTFP); minimum support price (MSP); Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR); nationalization; market; livelihood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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