Results
Baseline survey of the villages indicated that after paddy (monsoon rainfed crop) the farmers leave the fields fallow in the rabi (winter) season, mainly due to limitations of soil moisture availability to grow a second/rabi crop. Only 18 households have accessibility to irrigation water and use it for growing gram (broad-casting method), intermittently in a year of better rains and water availability. Others work as contract or casual labour in the forests and under Employment Guarantee Schemes of the Government. It was observed from income and expenditure matrix that agriculture is a tertiary source of income for the tribal. Forest-based income directly contributed to 40% of the income, while 46% income was generated through employment like collection of tendu leaves(used in making Indian cigar) and miscellaneous work for the con-tractor contributed 46%. The net returns from agriculture were abysmally low ($220 per ha). In general, farmers seek enough rice to feed the family for 1 year through agriculture. Moreover, no other source of income is available during the monsoon season. It was apparent that any plan to reduce dependence on forest must supplement the income from other sources while incorporating legitimate collection of NTFP.