Kerala Forest Development Corporation uses e-commerce to market organic cardamom.
Kerala Forest Development Corporation (KFDC) is looking at new ways to sell the spices it produces in domestic and international markets, including organic cardamom.
The Managing Director of KFDC, Prakriti Srivastava, said, ‘We are using e-commerce to market the organic cardamom grown in the forest areas of Munnar, Gavi, and Nelliampathy divisions. A new package design has been made for this.’
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Currently, the company produces approximately six tonnes of this wildlife-friendly organic material, which it hopes to commercialize under the brand name Vanopahar. With more people interested in environmentally friendly products, KFDC intends to sell all of its products, including black pepper and tea, on Amazon, Flipkart, and other online marketplaces.
Market growth
‘Market expansion will go a long way toward improving the livelihoods of forest populations living in KFDC sites.’ It would help us overcome the inherent hurdles of gaining access to a national market and ensure a higher standard of living for the recipient communities,’ she told.
With help from the Indian Cardamom Research Institute (ICRI) and the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), tribal laborers and people who came back from Sri Lanka as part of the Shastri-Srimavo deal are now involved in organic farming.
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The ICRI’s role
ICRI has developed an organic agriculture kit that includes high-yielding tillers for planting as well as organic insecticides and fungicides. She said ICRI will soon provide training, marketing support, and assistance in achieving organic certification.
The wildlife-friendly certification process is nearing completion, which will aid in projecting the strong conservation measures implemented even while farming products. This will also help you get a better market price for your product. KFDC has stopped using chemical pesticides and fertilizers on all cash crops like cardamom, coffee, and pepper that are grown on plantations.
‘We are also moving on with a proposal to establish a green tea manufacturing unit in Mananthavady, Wayanad,’ she added, adding that ‘online sales of more forest goods, such as coffee beans and sandalwood, will be introduced soon.’
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A plan to raise honey bees scientifically was sent to the Agriculture Department to help women in the KFDC areas of Gavi and Mananthavady get better jobs and more power.
In addition, KFDC intends to establish 266 hectares of new plantations (plantings and coppice) this year, where teak, bamboo, Melia Dubai, and other indigenous species will be planted. At the moment, the company grows cash crops on 2,000 hectares and trees like eucalyptus, acacia, teak, allanthus, and more on 7,000 hectares.
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