LOI submitted in collaboration with an institute for a DBT project related to smart farming, livelihood and entrepreneurship development in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.

1. Preliminary Proposal (Letter of Intent) for the Proposal titled -
“Development and Utilization of Bioresources of North East Region for Generating Livelihood
Security and Entrepreneurship”
1.Title: Collection, sustainable cultivation,value addition and marketing linkages of selected medicinal and
aromatic species (MAP) using emerging technological interventions.
2.Organization Name: Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health and Traditions, FRLHT, Bangalore.
3.Brief: In the high-altitude region of the Arunachal Himalayas, hilly and undulating terrains have resulted in low
agricultural crops production. Despite this low crop production, majority of the local residents are highly
dependent on agriculture for their subsistence. Moreover, sources of income are scarce and people mainly depend
on forest and forest products. Therefore, wild plants and animal species form an important component of the
livelihood of rural people in many parts. Few plants such as Illicium griffithii, Valeriana wallichii and
Zanthoxylum alatum the significant aromatic and medicinal tree species occurring in subtropical to temperate
forest of Arunachal Himalaya. However, these species are growing in select forest patches across few locations.
Dried seed pods are economically valuable having good market potential for spices and pharmaceutical
purposes. Star Anise fruit is considered to be carminative, aromatic stimulant, stomachic and galactagogue. It is
used as medicine to cure abdominal pain, cough, dyspepsia, food poisoning, vomiting, toothache and sinusitis. It
is also used as an antifungal agent and food preservative.
4.Perceived Gap in the area which the proposal is likely to address:
• Lack of technology available for sustainable harvest of various MAP plants.
• Training and knowledge transfer to farmers on using technology for best cultivation practices.
• Livelihood Generation - Farm visits & eco-tourism for giving travelers a first-hand experience of the
product (of the selected species). A high-end and easy to use App for the consumers to order the products
based on their convenience.
• Better buy back support and industry network/market linkage - Currently the products purchased by the
consumers are untraceable and the farmers don’t get the direct maximum benefits because of middle
men.
5.Objectives:
• Conservation and sustainable farming of the selected list of the species using combination of emerging
technologies
• Create sustainable livelihoods for the local community through eco-tourism, farm stays and developing
a digital market place to link farmers to consumers through a high-end App for the consumers to order
the products based on their convenience
• Creation of a Smart Factory Plant for processing, value addition and packaging having a transparent and
traceable supply chain platform.
6.Technology readiness level of the project when complete (to be capable of generating livelihood security
& entrepreneurship)
• AI/ML based farming techniques (To Identify Vendor)
• Use of Sensors and Drones for improved output and quality (To Identify Vendor)
• Traceable, immutable and Transparent supply chain for the products (To Identify Vendor)
• Smart packaging and processing unit (To Identify Vendor)
• High-end and easy to use App developed for the community for marketing the products (Proprietary)
• App and Digital Marketing platform for Eco-Tourism and Farm stay Tourism packages (Proprietary)
• Interactive Training modules for Capacity Building (Proprietary)
• Capacity Building Seminars and Workshop
7.Deliverables (in terms of training, demonstrations, livelihood creations, job
diversification etc.)
• Training
Identification of entrepreneurs with right aptitude
Minimum skill level and familiarity with the farm sector
Training for the App and other technological interventions

2. • Arrangement for training program
Liaising with Research Agencies/organization
Coordinating with Experts
Preparation of training materials
Theoretical training
Practical exposure to research organizations, commercial farms, industrial units etc.
• Demonstrations - Experts from the field of activity and local experts with knowledge of the medicinal
and commercial values of the plants would be consulted for imparting training and demonstrations
• Industrial experts and marketing partners would be associated in providing training for post-harvest
processing and marketing
• Liaising for machineries for distillation unit
• Networking and providing an assured market for the produce with a reasonable margin
• Livelihood Creation & Job Diversification
• Sustainable farmers community
• Homestays & Farm stays
• Service Sectors - Customer experience & Service representatives, Cooks, Travel agents, etc.,
• Handloom, art & craft, Jewellery, livestock products & produce etc.,
8.Partner Institutions/ Industry: Vista Naturals, Guwahati, Assam
9.Short CVs of Principal Investigator
Foundation of Revitalization of Local Health and Traditions (FRLHT):
Principal Investigator - 1
Dr. M. Abdul Kareem
• Head, Centre for Conservation of Natural Resources, FRLHT, Bangalore. Twenty-five years’ experience
in Facilitating in the implementation of “Mainstreaming Conservation and Sustainable Use of Medicinal
Plant Diversity in three Indian States. (GOI-UNDP-GEF-)
• To assist 18 NGOs of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka (Medicinal Plant Community Parks) in
planning, implementing and evaluating the conservation, health and livelihood programs for activities
related to the technical, community participation and user-oriented components as per the annual plan
drawn.
• Team member in establishing the private company, The Gram Mooligai Company Limited- an enterprise
on Medicinal plants
• Promoted the utilization of these native plant material resources and proven knowledge for health and
livelihood security etc (through community based regional resource centers for medicinal plants)
• Developed high quality regional nurseries/propagation material/training/supply centers to commercial
farmers with 18 NGOs in South India:
• Assisted NGOs (Medicinal Plant Community Parks) to draw up their annual plan (s) for a) Effective
implementation of Medicinal Plant Conservation – Revitalization of Local Health Tradition programs
Co-Investigator – 1
Dr. S. Noorunnisa Begum
• 20 years of experience in Taxonomy, Trade in medicinal plants, Conservation.
• Handled Projects in MoEFCC, NMPB, SBB – Arunachal Pradesh, SBB Telangana
• Extensively surveyed in north west, north east and southern areas of the country.
• Currently handling Dabur project on industry problem on shortage of galls “Karkatashringi”
• Curator of National Herbarium and Raw drug repository of Natural Resources used in Indian System of
Medicine.
Vistanaturals:
Co-Principal Investigator - 1
Mr. Sanjay Talakdar
• Digital Transformation Professional with experience of 9 years in areas like Advisory, Research and
Business Development, currently working as a freelancer consultant with start-ups and SME’s
• Expertise - Emerging technologies (IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, AR/VR, 3D Printing and
Drones & Robotics), Design Thinking methodology for storyboarding, RFPs/RFQs, Market Research,

3. Product Management, Design Thinking, Wireframing, Operation & Process Improvements, Quality
Assurance, Dashboarding & Visualizations, Technical Writing, Project Management, Team &
Stakeholder Management
Co-Investigator – 2
Aneesha Hussain
• Worked for Vista Agritech Pvt. Ltd as Marketing Head
• Managed various project under – NMMP in Meghalaya & Arunachal Pradesh and projects under
Ministry of Tourism for Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland & Manipur
• Managed Amla campaign in Meghalaya under SMPB
• Marketing of value-added products of medicinal & aromatic products
Co-Investigator – 3
Ubedur Rehman
• A dynamic HR Technology specialist with quality experience of more than 13 years in HR Software
implementation and management.
• Involved in full life cycle implementation, upgrade and support of HRMS solutions.
• Effective process orientation in performing Project Scoping, Business Process re-engineering, Fit/Gap
Analysis, Requirements Gathering, Functional Design, Application Configuration, User interactions &
User Training, Testing and Production support, Client Management.
• Self-driven and motivated with strong communication, problem-solving and analytical skills.
10.Approximate Budget:
Particulars Year 1 Year -2 Year - 3 Total (Rs.)
Plantation
- Nursery
- Baseline survey, and Cultivation
-Facilitation on development of sustainable harvest
protocol
- Conservation 10 Lacs 5 Lacs 3 Lacs 18 Lacs
Manufacturing
- Processing Unit
- Packaging Unit
- Infrastructure 15 Lacs 3 Lacs 0 18 Lacs
Technology Interventions
- High end Proprietary App Development
- Identifying Vendors
- Infrastructure & Hardware
- Quality analysis
-Value addition
-post harvest technology 10 Lacs 5 Lacs 3 Lacs 18 Lacs
Manpower & Overheads 9 Lacs 9 Lacs 9 Lacs 27 Lacs
Selection of beneficiaries
Training & Demonstrations 5 Lacs 5 Lacs 3 Lacs 13 Lacs
Total 49 Lacs 27 Lacs 18 Lacs 94 Lacs