Cashew apple juice, anyone? Farmers need markets
IN April this year, Vishwakeshava and Navyashri Kuruveri, two young areca nut farmers, joined a training programme at the Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR) in Puttur, Karnataka, to learn how to make cashew apple juice and extract its pulp. After training, the couple returned home, set up a tentative unit
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Coldpressed brings FPOs into markets
In recent years small producer companies have come up in Rajasthan to tap into the lucrative urban demand for coldpressed cooking oils. The state is India’s largest producer of oilseeds and mustard is its signature crop. In Karauli district of Rajasthan the Dang Vikas Farmer Producer Company (FPC), started a
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From America to India on a yatra for mango divine
ANIL Sharma’s love affair with the mango began around 10 years ago. Walking around a store in Chicago, where he’s been living for 30 years, he spotted Chausa mangoes for sale by sheer chance, he says. He bought a box, took it home, and ate one. It tasted heavenly. “The
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Mustard brightens up the fields of Kashmir farmers
MILES of yellow mustard fields dot the picturesque landscape of Jammu and Kashmir, indicating the increasing success of oilseed cultivation in the state. Through meticulous planning and strategic intervention, the National Oilseeds Mission is transforming agricultural practices in the region. By incentivizing farmers to shift to cultivation of oilseeds during
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Jackfruit in dumpling is a winner in Kerala
A steamed dumpling made of ripe jackfruit, jaggery and rice flour wrapped in an aromatic leaf with the fragrance of cinnamon has begun to enjoy popularity as a snack. It is proving to be a winner for the Neeloor Producer Company (NPC), a farmer-producer organization (FPO) in Kottayam district of
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Passion fruit finds value and rises in the south
A little known fruit, synonymous with the northeast, is finding takers in the southern states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Passion fruit is the rising star among fruits. Due to increasing demand for sweet, edible passion fruit and not the juice, farmers are scrambling to find the right varieties,
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The new and juicy bael has arrived
In the blistering summer of northern India, everyone is familiar with the benefits of a soothing glass of bael juice. But the humble and drab-looking fruit’s popularity soon fades when the weather changes. In the hierarchy of the fruit kingdom, it ranks at the bottom in terms of appeal and
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GM food crops are not needed here
Till very recently the Indian government, supported by a range of farmer, health and environmental activists, had taken a clear decision not to permit any genetically modified (GM) or genetically engineered (GE) food crop in the country, keeping in view the widely documented risks and hazards associated with such crops.
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Dig a pond in memory of a loved one, nourish the earth
WHEN Sukhdev Chamoli’s 87-year-old father died, he was overwhelmed with grief. He too is an elderly 67. His mother had died some years before. “She used to say, die today and tomorrow is another day, which means the dead are soon forgotten,” recalls Chamoli. But he wanted to do something
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How Punjab planted paddy minus labour
Agricultural workers from Bihar and UP left Punjab in droves during the lockdown. Looming ahead was the paddy season. What would farmers do? Those on whom they depended had all gone home. Yet, paddy was planted in record time, just before the monsoon. How did farmers manage it? “We anticipated
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Climbing classes: Young men in Kerala get up areca trees
For 15 years Prashanth, a 37-year-old villager living near Thirthahally in Karnataka, slaved at a granite quarry and a petrol station, although he was an educated man who had completed a pre-university course. The little he earned disappeared into paying for food and other basic expenses. The net result was
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