A group of 3,000 mango and vegetable farmers have come together to set up a mango pulp manufacturing unit in the name of Nagai Organic Farmers Producers Company Ltd.
The unit, which was inaugurated on Saturday by O.S. Manian, Minister for Handlooms and Textiles, can produce six tonnes of fruit pulp an hour. The unit, situated at Kameswaram, a coastal village in Nagapattinam district, will supply the pulp to juice producing companies. It also plans to produce pulp of other fruits and vegetables in future.
The opening of the unit marks the realisation of the collective aspiration of the 3,000 members of the Thirumaraikadu Coastal Farmers Federation which has floated the company. “We have long been aspiring to establish a mango pulp factory as many farmers are growing mango trees here. We have now realised the dream,” said Jega. Arivazhagan, one of the directors of the company.
The federation, initially floated as a trust in 2012 with about 887 mango farmers in Kovilpathu, Vellapallam and Naluvedapathi, has expanded to cover about 3,000 farmers, organised as 190 farmers’ producers groups in nine more villages between Poigainallur and Periyakattukuthakai.
The groups are supported under International Fund for Agricultural Development - assisted Post Tsunami Sustainable Livelihood Programme with the Covenant Centre for Development (CCD), a voluntary organisation, acting as the facilitator.
The federation has been pooling in resources and the produce of the farmers’ groups to find a better market. “We procure mangoes and vegetables from our farmers through the procurement centres in the villages and sell them in Puducherry, Chennai and other places. We realised there was a good scope for establishing a pulp manufacturing unit as mangoes were produced on a large scale in our area,” he said.
The pulp manufacturing unit has been set up at an investment of ₹9.37 crore. The company shareholders have contributed ₹70.30 lakh, a part of which was used for purchase of land for the unit, said P. Saravanan, Chief Executive Officer.
With the mango trees in Nagapattinam district suffering extensive damage in cyclone Gaja, the company was forced to buy mangoes from other places for its trial run. Mr. Saravanan said the unit could also process guava, pineapple, tomato and papaya and plans to produce pulps of the different fruits depending on the season. “Now that the mango season is over, we are planning to procure guava from Vijayawada in October, when its price is down,” he said.
Speaking at the inaugural, Mr. Manian promised to fulfil the farmers demand for providing an access road to the unit. M.Selvaraj, MP, Nagapattinam; U.Mathivanan, MLA, Keezh Velur; S.Selvaraj, Collector; and other officials were present.
