INTRODUCTION  Bali Block, a non-descript and low on Human Development Index of Pali District, Rajasthan has pockets of tribal villages where mainly Garasiya Tribes lives. This region is marked with Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) like Custard Apple, Ber and Palash etc. This NTFP Products are mainstay of tribal livelihood but due to seasonality quotient, it does not provide round the year livelihood option for villagers. The income realized also does not corroborates with the kind of toil that pluckers and collectors underwent for these primary products. They hardly get handsome amount and the role of middlemen has worsened the case too. And the answer to these scenarios has its way in value addition of primary products in order to complement livelihood economically and sustainability. In such case, efficient procurement, channel and adept skills and processing requires to reach that stage. This all process has led to regular income for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG’s). 

Such instance has been exemplified by story of Lilabai w/o Punaram Garasia who belongs to Santosh VLCC of Chopa Ki Nal village in Nadia Panchayat. SRIJAN started with preliminary training on ground and started training the tribals about right stage of harvesting i.e., when to pluck the fruits (when the fruit slightly turned yellowish in color), followed standardized procedure to scoop, rejuvenating technology to safe, pulp extraction, equipment developed. 

The process started with following activities: a) Control over the post-harvest losses. b) Training on harvesting indicators and post-harvest handling of fruit. c) Establishment of decentralized processing units and collection centers. d) Training to VLCC In-charge and collectors etc. e) Safe and hygiene packaging of pulp.

She followed the proper channel of backward linkage and now has extracted pulp of Rs 7746 this season from 110.66 kg. She worked for 24 days and now she is planning to extract 40-50 kg of Ber and 250 kg of Palash this season so that her income would continue till autumn. All this has been succeeded because of decentralized processing unit which reduced the operating cost and reduced drudgery too. For next season she has planned to deliver 250 kg of pulp to her Santosh VLCC. Through all this money, she has managed to pay off her debt to local traders, supported the schooling of her descendants and deposited the leftout money in her bank account to earn some interest. This is a very small step toward empowering a woman but the ethos of making money out of nowhere has instilled the value proposition of left out or discarded Custard apple. There are total 20000 kg of pulp of custard apple processed at all VLCC level. Which helps to more than 1282 women to get the extra income from process of NTFP at local.