Abstract

An attempt has been made in this paper to give an overview of marketing of Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in Kerala, by analysing working of different marketing agents. In Kerala, out of 500 NTFPs, 120 are treated as commercially important. Before 1978, the marketing of NTFPs was carried out by private traders. With an aim of free the gatherers from the clutches of the private traders, the state government established Tribal Co-operative Service Societies and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Co-operative Development Federation (Federation) . The study indicated that in spite of all the efforts by the Federation, societies and the Forest Department, the present marketing system of NTFPs is still unorganised and often controlled by private traders. Further it suggests that better marketing strategies, giving emphasis to safeguarding the interest of the collectors and the consumers should be formulated and implemented