THRISSUR: Soon, Neera, the unfermented sap from coconut inflorescence, will become the official welcome drink of Kerala Raj Bhavan with Governor P Sathasivam evincing keen interest in the natural drink. The Governor has sought the support of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) to make Keramrutham, KAU brand of Neera, the official welcome drink at Raj Bhavan when he visited the Neera stall of the university at the Global Agro Meet held at Koratty.
According to KAU authorities, the Governor visited the stall along with the Minister for Agriculture K P Mohanan and Jose Thettayil MLA to seek more information about the product after having tasted Keramrutham at the valedictory function of the meet. And when he was apprised of the produce, process mechanism and quality of Keramrutham, the Governor told university authorities to explore the possibilities of regularly supplying necessary quantity of Keramrutham to Raj Bhavan so that it could be made the official drink to be served to visitors, said Dr P Rajendran, Vice-Chancellor of KAU.
“The university has a Neera production unit with a daily manufacturing capacity of 1,000 litres at the College of Agriculture (CoA), Padannakad, in Kasargode. In the initial stages, we will supply the health drink to Raj Bhavan from Kasargod and we are already in the process of starting a unit at Thiruvananthapuram. Once it becomes operational, the drink would be directly supplied to the Raj Bhavan from there,” he said.
According to KAU Registrar Dr P V Balachandran, apart from Raj Bhavan, the university will soon set up Keramrutham stalls at the State Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, major railway stations and bus stands. For the widespread production of this drink, more trained technicians are required and KAU is currently concentrating on the training of Neera technicians, he said.
Keramrutham is an excellent beverage with a mild sweetness and enriched with minerals.