Introduction:

The Centre came into existence inJuly, 2012as unit of RFRI Jorhat under the Indian Council of Forestry Research& Education (ICFRE), Dehradun an autonomous body of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India. It is the latest among the 9 Institutes and 4 Centres operating under ICFRE in different parts of the country. It is one of the two Centres under RFRI,Jorhat in the Northeastern Region, the other being, ARCBR, Aizawl.

 

Mandate:

1- Capacity building of forest dependent communities in forest based livelihoods.

2- To disseminate available technologies/ processes/ tools to user groups for conservation and sustainable use of forest resources.

3- To support the lead institute in research education and extension in the area of jurisdiction.

 

Core Research Areas:

1- Sustainable livelihood alternatives through application of forestry and NRM techniques

2- R&D in bamboo sector including propagation, preservation and value addition.

3- On-farm Participatory Research for productivity enhancement.

4- Impact assessment of skill training and technology demonstration.

5- Biodiversity conservation.

 

Geographical Jurisdiction:

Northeastern States including Sikkim (India)

 

Key Achievements:

1-   Research

1 - Popularization of low-cost Bamboo Treatment in rural areas of Tripura:

CFLE had conducted about 15 nos. training on Bamboo treatment technique and preservation process of bamboo comprising 360 participants throughout the State of Tripura. Trainings were conducted at Bamutia, Noagaon,Borjush, Khaschowmuhani, Kanchanpur and Agartala. The Boucherie machine has been adopted by several groups in different parts of the State. These machines are in regular use and the users are also getting advantages of the techniques to generate direct and indirect incomes from the treated bamboos. CFLE has supported various artisan groups for setting up small scale Bamboo Treatment and Technology Demonstration units in different locations in the State

Commercialization of Bamboo Treatment Techniques and Entrepreneurship Development -

Recently, Tripura Bamboo and Cane Development Centre (TRIBAC) - a social enterprise based in Agartala, Tripura has taken an initiative and set-up treated bamboo production unit with minimum capital investment on Boucherie machine and Low-cost Treatment Tanks with chemical and initial raw materials. TRIBAC has come up with treated bamboos of different species of commercial utilities with a Brand ‘TryBam’ through technical support from CFLE. In a collaborative approach with CFLE, TRIBAC has been organizing training and demonstration for capacity building for new entrepreneurs and is also engaged in marketing of treated bamboos for housing, furniture and household fencing. The prototype bamboo treatment machine has also been expanded by TRIBAC in Bihar, Meghalaya and Tripura. The pro-poor bamboo treatment technique has been extended in rural pockets like Kanchanpur, Melaghar and Bamutia of Tripura for producing treated bamboo for use in construction and fencing. Apart from the Disaster Risk Reduction in quake prone zones, it will also create an alternative livelihood among the rural poor through setting-up Bamboo Treatment Units to supply quality bamboo building components under Pradhan MantriAvasYojana (PMAY) housing scheme. It is believed that the awareness generation and community entrepreneurship development in both rural and urban areas will create a high demand of treated bamboos in near future with a positive trend of lowering down the quantum of resource consumption at the same time. And therefore, CFLE plans to extend it further to reach the unreached with the support of local NGOs and various volunteer groups.

2-   Extension

1 - Popularization of low-cost Bamboo Treatment in rural areas of Tripura:

Market linkages were developed for livelihood promotion through sale of vermicompost produced by the beneficiaries in West Tripura and North Tripura. Local youth are encouraged from the high income potential of Low cost vermicomposting techniques and have come forward to install VC Units in large scale for commercial purpose. CFLE has established a number of vermicompost units at Bamutia and Kanchanpur by forming producer groups. MAS Agrochemicals based at Agartala has been tied up with the farmers producing vermicompost to collect the produce and market under the brand name 'FASAL'. The agency has agreement with various planting agencies for supply of vermicompost for organic farming.

 

2 - Promotion of bamboo nursery:

CFLE is promoting bamboo nurseries in Tripura to meet the growing demand for bamboo planting materials. About 110 youths and farmers are directly engaged in production of bamboo seedlings. The trained nursery growers are earning income by supplying the quality bamboo plants to various agencies and department even outside the NE States.

 

3 - Promotion of Herbal garden:

CFLE has helped 55 tribal medics from Kanchanpur to form Vaidyaraj Herbal Growers Society to raise 10 herbal gardens in North Tripura. The Society has planned to build a knowledge base and a bank of at least 500 medicinal plants.

 

Address-

Head

Forest Research Center for Livehood Extension Agartala

Agartala Shal Bagan Forest Campus, Gandhigram, Agartala, Tripura - 799012

Phone - +91-3812397097

Email- head_frcle@icfre.org