Edible plants of tropical forests among tribal communities of Madhya Pradesh

185-190In Madhya Pradesh, Baiga and Gond tribes are identified as the main collectors and users of forest resources among the forest dwellers. These non-wood forest products (NTFPs) have immense potential to meet the daily requirement of tribal communities and also a source of raw material supply to small pharmaceutical industries. The forest resources of Baiga dominated forest areas of Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh contribute more than 60 % of their annual income. Baiga communities collect the maximum forest resources for their subsistence among forest dwelling communities in the world. Many people living in and around forests are unaware of the potential of these resources for income generation because they lack access to information on processing possibilities. Local people and institutional stakeholders resulting into depletion of resources in natural forests ignore sustainable harvesting of forest resources. An attempt has been made to assess the status of economically important utilizable forest resources in their natural habitats of tropical forests of tropical forests of Dindori and Mandla districts