Kanker Tribal Forest Food Mahua Char Bastar Foraging

Kanker district in the Bastar division is a significant tribal foraging area where Gond, Halba, and Muria communities systematically harvest a seasonal calendar of forest foods: mahua flowers (April) dried and used for liquor and sweets; char (Buchanania lanzan) seed which yields a fat used for cooking and soap; tendu leaf (May) collected for bidi-wrapping; and a rotating calendar of wild mushrooms, tubers, greens, and fruits. The char seed fat (chironjee) from Kanker's forests is a premium edible oil used in Mughal sweets (kheer and halwa) and sold at premium prices to urban buyers who value its light, non-cloying flavour. Kanker's Dudhawa dam and the Rowghat forest ridge are contested sites where the proposed Rowghat iron ore project has faced opposition from tribal communities.