KASARGOD: On Wednesday, a Kudumbashree volunteer from Nileshwaram called the mission’s district coordinator T T Surendran after reading a small report in newspapers. She was excited to know Kudumbashree women earned more than Rs 3.5 lakh by selling value-added jackfruit products. “Sir, our jackfruit earned us Rs 3.5 lakh,” she said. But she was surprised when the officer told her the women did not even invest Rs 10,000 to take home that amount.
Jackonomics
A section of women in Kasargod is discovering the potential of jackfruit —the newly crowned ‘fruit of the state’. Across the five block panchayats in the district, 530 Kudumbashree volunteers organised jackfruit festivals over the past two months to sell a variety of value-added products -- from tipsy wine to the crunching common chips. And it was a soldout at all places, says Surendran. In Nileshwaram, the payasam made of jackfruit seed got over before the MLA could reach for the inauguration.
The festivals ranged from one day to three days, and had around 70 different value-added products from jackfruit such as chakka varatti or jackfruit halwa, papad, squash, chips, jam, unniappam, jackfruit biriyani, cutlet, upperi and wine, said Surendran. “After the festivals and research, we calculated that value-added products worth Rs 5,000 can be made from one jackfruit,” he says.
The festivals were organised under the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) by the community development societies (CDS) of Kudumbashree. Chemnad panchayat’s Ushakumari K, Chandravathy A, and Shobha M had set up a stall at the festival organised at the new bus stand in Kasargod. In two days, the three women made 13 varieties of items, including ladoos and payasam from jackfruit seeds and papad.
“In three days, we earned around Rs 20,000,” says Ushakumari, who is now planning to start a canteen in Chemnad panchayat office.
And how much did they invest? “We had to spend around Rs 2,000,” she says. In West Eleri, the women focused more on introducing the value-added products to the people, says the panchayat CDS chairperson K P Lakshmi. “We had 32 stalls and 77 products. But for us, it was more of an exhibition to introduce the possibilities and the varieties of the fruit to the people,” she says.
So, Shobhana P, a seasoned vintner, was selling her wine at Rs 50 in a 180 ml bottle. “I wanted people to get a hang of it,” she says. Shobhana, who had the highest number of items in her stall, is planning to start a micro enterprise with the support of Kudumbashree. Geetha Sivadas’s cake, mixture, and avalose unda flew off the shelf. Even she wants to turn her knowhow into a business, says Lakshmi.
At Nileshwaram festival, which had 20 stalls, Padmini M, Janaki, T Leelavathy, and Indira made quick bucks of Rs 8,500 by selling chips and payasam. “We had to only buy oil and milk for Rs 600,” says Padmini.
For the record, Nileswhwaram CDS earned Rs 1.16 lakh from the festival and Parappa block, under which West Eleri comes, earned Rs 1.36 lakh. Surendran said the festival would be held at Manjeshwaram soon.
“The aim is to prove to volunteers so that they can turn into successful businesspersons with the ubiquitous jack,” he says.