India, Sept. 6 -- A high-value crop is helping forest-fringe communities earn while conserving Assam's fragile landscapes.

Vanilla cultivation is emerging as a viable and environmentally sustainable livelihood option for forestfringe communities in Assam, with an exposure visit to Niapoli village in Dudhnoi under Goalpara district highlighting the crop's economic and conservation potential. The exposure visit, organised on August 7, 2026, brought together 40 participants from forest-fringe villages. The programme provided hands-on training on the complete cycle of vanilla production, covering site selection, propagation, flowering, hand pollination, harvesting, curing and marketing. The visit focused on successful household-level vanilla...