Local groups are helping farmers rewrite the story of the healthy fruit
Perhaps visitors to the sunny beaches of Goa would always remember being served a large glass of a refreshing, tangy drink after a heavy meal. A wild fruit that is famous for its therapeutic properties is cultivated in small plantations in North Karnataka, Goa, southern Maharashtra and parts of Kerala in the Konkan region (Photos: Vikas Choudhary)
A wild fruit famous for its therapeutic properties, Kokum is cultivated in small plantations in North Karnataka, Goa, southern Maharashtra and parts of Kerala in the Konkan region
In addition to being used to prepare a popular drink, Kokum rind is a souring agent used in curries and a sol kadi, a local dish. But farmers are not very happy to take up large scale plantation of this fruit
The situation, however, is improving now. After years of effort, several small-scale firms have started to earn good profits from kokum products while ensuring better prices to the farmers. They are also bagging big contracts to export the product now
According to a few local groups, this is because till 2010, close to 85 per cent of the fruit used to go waste every year
The local groups are also helping farmers rewrite the story of the healthy fruit. The recent attempts have helped in convincing farmers to cultivate kokum, but a lot remains to be done
The fat extracted from the seed has high medicinal value. The rind is also used in an anti-obesity drug in the USA and Japan
