B. Social and Farm Forestry Programme

ITC’s Social and Farm Forestry programme emerged in response to its Paperboards Division’s challenge to source cost-effective pulpwood from sustainable sources to enhance its competitiveness. Instead of taking the easier route of importing pulp, ITC innovatively leveraged its pulpwood requirements to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to poor tribal and marginal farmers, by assisting them to convert their private wastelands into productive pulpwood plantations. To ensure the commercial viability of these plantations, ITC’s R&D Centre at Bhadrachalam developed high-yielding, disease-resistant and site-specific clones. This programme has not only created a sustainable source of livelihood for a large number of disadvantaged sections of society but has also brought in a multiplicity of benefits by creating a large green cover that contributes significantly to groundwater recharge, soil conservation and carbon sequestration.