The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Thrust on value addition to products

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Thursday, Jul 05, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Thrust on value addition to products

L. Renganathan

To maximise market potential of cash crops

KARUR: Realising the need to make agriculture a profitable venture and to maximize the market potential of cash crops produced in Karur district, the district administration in coordination with the Departments of Agriculture and Horticulture in spreading the message of value addition to farm products. The preliminary concentration is on banana and there are also plans to explore value addition in tapioca and other crops as well.

Already a couple of orientation camps on value addition in banana and its byproducts has been conducted in Kulithalai while another camp for tapioca was held near Karur. The enthusiastic participation of women in those camps bade well for the self help group movement in the district, organizers feel.

When core agricultural practice is becoming non remunerative, the survival of farmers who regularly raise cash crops such as banana, sugar cane, betel vine and korai in thousands of acres across Karur district is at stake. Another crisis in the form of classifying the area as single crop region has not helped matters either.

That apart the post-production loss in degradable commodities such as banana is immense in the absence of cold storage facilities in the region that is linked to volatility in prices is significant in the district. There is a felt need to minimize that loss. Cashing in on the byproducts of banana such as banana fig, osmatic dehydrated banana, ketchup, jam, jelly, fruit powder, fruit drink and above all banana fibre would be an answer to the problem, agriculturalists and officials feel.

Similar is the case with tapioca that fetches very low return for the growers during peak season as the market is flooded with the tuber and the middlemen make mincemeat of the growers offering low prices for the produce. So far, there had been no pragmatic attempt to tap the subsidiary potential of tapioca in Karur district.

Workshops planned

Towards popularizing the value addition concept, the district administration is planning to conduct more such awareness workshops involving Agriculture and Horticulture departments, farm experts and model farmers.

“Our aim is to enlighten the farmers on the options open to them from raising a crop or produce. Simply raising the crop will fetch only meagre returns but finding use for its by products or co-products would maximize the farmers’ earnings,” observes Collector T.N. Venkatesh, who says the administration is ready to conduct as many workshops as possible to spread the message of value addition to farm products.

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