 "tendu leaves")
Chhattisgarh, which is a leading producer of green gold or tendu leaves in the country, has procured over 77 per cent of the tendu patta against the target set for the current collection season. The state produces the best quality of tendu leaves used as beedi wrappers and tobacco.
The production of tendu leaves is approximately 1.67 million standard bags annually in Chhattisgarh, which is nearly 20 per cent of the total production in the country. One standard bag of tendu leaves comprises 1,000 bundles of 50 leaves each.
In Chhattisgarh, the collection season starts from the third week of April and continues till the second week of June.
“As of now, 1.28 million standard bags of tendu leaves have been collected in Chhattisgarh during the 2023 collection year, which is nearly 77 per cent of the total target set for the state,” said a senior official with the Chhattisgarh State Minor Forest Produce Cooperative Federation, the nodal agency for tendu patta collection in the state.
The target is to collect 1.67 million standard bags of tendu leaves by the end of this year.
Against the tendu patta purchased, the federation has disbursed Rs 515 crore to the collectors, the official said, adding that about 1.1 million tendu patta collectors have benefited. Maoists-infected Sukma district was in the top spot in collection. Over 122,310 standard bags were collected in the Sukma Forest Division against the target of 108,000 standard bags.
It was followed by another insurgency-hit forest division of East Bhanupratappur where 90,649 standard bags were collected. In 2004, the state government changed the tendu patta collection policy and sold the produce directly from the field instead of godowns.
The Government of Chhattisgarh has taken several concrete steps in the interest of the tribal people, which include procurement of minor forest produce at support price and increase in the rate of tendu patta collectors, among others.
