Enterprising sugarcane farmer L.S. Belur has gone from just producing organic jaggery in his hometown in Mudhol of Bagalkot district to exporting the product all the way to Russia.
“I exported 60 quintals of organic jaggery to a Russian buyer, and I am proud of this achievement,” said Mr. Belur. He has been able to do this, thanks to the encouragement given by the organic jaggery park launched in Mudhol in September 2013, by the University of Agriculture Sciences, Dharwad.
Jaggery is no longer a product that is consumed domestically. Because its quality meets international standards, we are able to export,” said C.P. Chandrashekhar, project leader of the park. The demand has increased substantially in the domestic market too.
He said when the park was launched, it crushed some 300 tonnes of organic sugarcane to produce 30 tonnes of jaggery. The next year, the park crushed 900 tonnes and produced 90 tonnes of jaggery. “For 2015, we are targeting to crush about 1,500 tonnes of sugarcane to produce some 150 tonnes of jaggery. Of this, over 100 tonnes will be exported to Russia,” Dr. Chandrashekhar said.
He said as organic farming is gaining popularity, more farmers are coming forward to adopt this chemical-free farming, which gives them higher revenue. “With organic jaggery, a farmer can earn at least Rs. 1,000 more/quintal of sugarcane as against chemically produced jaggery,” he said. Though, Dr. Chandrashekhar admitted that the cost of organic jaggery is till over 30 per cent higher to chemical jaggery because of limited production and higher cost of transport, he however believes that with the increased production in future, the cost of will comedown significantly.
Free of chemicals
As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, jaggery producers can no longer use chemicals beyond the permissible limit, and the Organic Jaggery Park holds regular training programmes to educate them about the importance of chemical-free farming. “The park is working as facilitator to get organic sugarcane crushed to get jaggery, at the same time, we are spreading awareness on the norms,” said C.P. Chandrashekhar, project leader of the park