Minor forest produce procurement dips 92% in 2024-25: govt. data

Government procurement of Minor Forest Produce at Minimum Support Price saw a sharp dip in 2024-25 compared to the year before, with data tabled in Parliament on Thursday (February 5, 2026) showing that the amount of MFP procured across 19 States dropped by over 92% from 2023-24 to 2024-25.

Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram on Thursday tabled this data in response to a question on MFP procurement by Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Mr. Oram said that the Tribal Affairs Ministry had, “till date”, released ₹319.65 crore to State governments for the procurement of MFP at MSP, also tabling State-wise procurement data for three years.

The data showed that in 2022-23, the total procurement at MSP in these States was 26,744 MT of minor forest produce, worth about ₹94.23 crore. This procurement nearly doubled the following year in 2023-24, during which over 51,400 MT of minor forest produce was procured, worth ₹124.3 crore.

However, during 2024-25, the data showed that just 3,920.2 MT of produce was procured, worth around ₹16.68 crore. In providing this data, the government’s reply did not explain the drop in procurement.

Ms. Vadra had asked questions in Lok Sabha on Tuesday about the Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ efforts to strengthen MSP procurement of minor forest produce, data on produce procured so far, beneficiaries benefiting through self-help groups, and plans to expand the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd.

In response, the Tribal Affairs Minister said that the Ministry had notified 87 types of MFP eligible for MSP procurement, up from 10 in 2013-14, adding that “funds generated from the sale of procured MFPs are deposited back in the revolving funds by the State Governments”.

Mr. Oram added that since 2019-20, the Ministry had sanctioned ₹612.12 crore for the establishment of 4,125 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras as conglomerations of self-help groups to help them market their forest produce. Additionally, under the targetted scheme saturation scheme for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, the Ministry had sanctioned ₹22.98 crore to set up 539 such VDVKs. In total, these VDVKs are supporting about 12.79 lakh tribal members across the country.

The Minister added that while the TRIFED currently operated 116 Tribes India outlets across the country, including 101 own stores, nine franchise stores, and six consignment outlets, “as of now, there is no proposal to expand the network of TRIFED retail outlets”.

In response to specific questions about minor forest produce in Ms. Vadra’s constituency, the government said, “No proposal has been received for Wayanad Lok Sabha Constituency for procurement of MFPs at Minimum Support Price under the PMJVM scheme.”