VIZIANAGARAM: Tucked amid lush green fields 20 kilometres from Vizianagaram, Alamanda has been well-known for decades for its mango jelly.. Estimated to have an annual turnover of Rs 3 to Rs 5 crore, hundreds of women in the village are actively involved in the jelly-making process that had followed conventional methods till a few years ago.
A project sanctioned by the department of science and technology (DST) in May 2018 changed the course of mango jelly production, empowering the women to tap into demand in states such as Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, etc. The women were trained in using solar drying technology and hygienic processing and packing methods, which have come in handy during the post-harvest season while also contributing to value addition.
Dr Imandi Sarat Babu, associate professor, department of biotechnology, Gitam Institute of Technology, said the project by DST-SEED is titled, “Development and extension of technologies to improve livelihood of small farm holders at Alamanda, north-coastal Andhra Pradesh” and focuses on developing livelihoods of unemployed women.
Explaining the progress of the project, Dr Sarat Babu said during a baseline study in 2018, it was felt there was a need to train women in modern technologies given the foreign export potential of mango jelly.
“The solar drying, vacuum packaging and other modern technologies have enhanced the shelf life of the jelly. Various other products have also been experimented with the help of solar dryers, such as vegetable powders, dry fruits, dry prawns and fish which can be sold in markets,” added Sarat Babu.
Dr Sarat Babu added that women in the village are also being trained on in-situ, low cost production of tissue culture banana plantlets. “The lab-grown banana variety Grand Nain, being pest- and disease-free, has significantly improved crop yield in this village. The women have also been trained in goat meat processing by leveraging modern equipment,” he said.
Source:timesofindia.indiatimes.com