The central government has been pitching it as one of the most important reform measures to boost agro-forestry. The NITI Aayog in its three-year action agenda, released recently, has pitched for it. It said, “It is essential and urgent that we liberalise our laws so that wood may be harvested from trees grown on private lands and transported to locations where it can be used more productively.”
The government is considering getting states on board for removing restrictions on felling, transport and sale of trees grown on private land to encourage agro-forestry. It has also decided to help states with dedicated electronic platforms where trees on non-forest land can be verified through geo-tagging.
The move will not only help farmers in earning additional income from farm land but also reduce the country’s dependence on import of wood. It requested states to bring rules for liberalising felling and transit regime for tree species grown on non-forest\private land.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pursuing an expansion of domestic industrial wood production with the aim of raising the income of farmers and of making the country less dependent on wood imports. To achieve this he plans to coordinate the efforts of all State Forest Departments and private sector organisations.
The plan calls for the cultivation of industrial wood lots and plantations along farm boundaries as well as within the farm.In addition to expanded farm forests, the Prime Minister wants to see large-scale plantations on rural non-agricultural land for example alongside roads, along railway lines, and along canal banks.
The main purpose of this plan is to allow India to be more self-sufficient in wood products which will ease the import burden which today runs into billions of dollars. It is estimated that approximately 5 million hectares of lands are available for this project.