Gunupur: Mahua collectors of Odisha’s Rayagada district are not getting fair price for their produce? The tribal people of Rayagada district in Odisha become active ahead of the Phaguna month as they get them engaged in Mahua collection from the forest. Some of them pick up the Mahua flower from the ground to collect on a pan and some others carry the product to the house. Member of a family here irrespective of gender and age collect Mahua.
In Gunupur area of Rayagada district in Odisha this is the month of Mahua collection. All the family members work from dawn to dusk to collect mahua. Yet, though they are putting so much of effort, they are deprived off a fair price for this forest produce. In the absence of a price protection mechanism they are forced to sell the product at a low cost.
Mahua is a seasonal flower. The tribal people depend on this produce in the summer. It has been complained that the traders reach the doorsteps of the tribal farmers to purchase Mahua while the simple tribal are ignorant of the market price. And hence, they sell their produce in a very low cost. Hence, they are waiting for a time when they will get the proper price of Mahua flower.
Ms Kalinga