The Thottiam Banana Producer Group, a private company producing value-added products in banana, has been sanctioned two more solar dryers in appreciation of its achievement in producing and marketing value-added products in banana. The company, started about three years ago with a solar dryer donated by KFW DEG and Bayer, produced banana chocolate which attracted the customers with its longer shelf-life. Impressed by the success of this company, the Agricultural Engineering Department had donated two more dryers for producing value-added products in banana.
R. Dheenadayalan, a partner of the company, said that the two dryers would be inaugurated within a month’s time, when the company’s monthly production capacity would go up from one tonne to four tonnes.
Manikutti Subramanian, manager of the company, said that the State Agricultural Engineering Department had set up the dryer units, each at a cost of Rs. 3.97 lakh. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, had ordered a special subsidy of Rs. 1.84 lakh for each unit, said Manikutti Subramanian. The ‘Yummy banana’ being produced by the company has gone down well with the customers. It is popularly known as banana chocolate. The company has been guiding a large number of farmers from across the country in making value-added products in banana, according to S. Ajithan, founder of the company.
