Morung Express News
February 26
Kohima: Wild fruits make an important contribution to the nutrition of the rural people of Nagaland, according to the State Level Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan of Nagaland.
“They also play a significant role in income and survival strategies from jhum cultivation, small landholders and landless families living near forest,” said the action plan that came in the form of book under the aegis of the department of forest, environment, ecology and wildlife, Government of Nagaland.
Wild fruits also assume as a food supplement especially during times of shortage.
Some wild fruits, gooseberry and crab apple, are processed into different forms and are sold in local markets.
Wild fruits are common in tropical and subtropical rain forest of Nagaland. Many wild fruits species are vanishing due to deforestation and wild fire, the report said.
When wild fig varieties get burnt by wild fire, the plant may survive, but the fruits become non-edible, it said.
In this respect, the report said “Efforts are needed to reintroduce wild fruits and conserve wild biodiversity in Nagaland.”
