Solar dryers to make healthier' mango jelly
Horticulture authorities to launch it as pilot project in East Godavari district.
Rajahmundry: For the first time in the state, a popular sweet made with ripe mango juice called mango jelly is going to be prepared in a hygienic manner by using greenhouse solar dryers as a pilot project in East Godavari district by the horticulture authorities shortly. Nearly, 4,200 tonnes of mango jelly is being prepared in several mandals including Kakinada rural, Gollaprolu, Tondangi, Jaggampeta, Prathipadu, Athreyapuram, Korukonda and Rangampeta in the district per annum and a majority part of it is exported to states like West Bengal, Bihar, Mumbai and New Delhi.
One can find mango jelly bars wrapped in plastic sachets being sold in railway stations. However, the authorities found that the jelly is not being prepared and packed in a hygienic manner and is dried in a conventional manner in sunlight collecting a lot of dust and flies on it. As the jelly is popular with people, horticulture authorities wanted to prepare it in a hygienic manner by using greenhouse solar dryers to give value addition to it.
Accordingly, the horticulture authorities selected two villages including Chebrolu of Gollaprolu mandal and P.E. Chinnayapalem of Tondangi mandal in the district as a pilot project. Greenhouse solar dryers spread over 200 sq metres area with a capacity to produce 1.3 tonne of jelly in one cycle of production will be installed and it takes nearly 10 days for the preparation of the jelly.
About four tonnes of jelly is expected to be made in a month fetching about Rs 14 lakh to the producer. In conventional practice, the maximum capacity to make jelly is 100 kgs for one cycle of production which takes over 25 days and it fetches only Rs 10 lakhs. The horticulture authorities are planning to use the greenhouse solar dryers for multi-purpose activities for drying up coconuts for copra from which oil will be extracted, drying fruit slices like mango slices for making mango pickle, dehydrated vegetables and for other purposes.
Kakinada horticulture assistant director K. Gopi Kumar said, “We are going to set up greenhouse solar dryers to dry the ripe mango pulp to make mango jelly in a hygienic manner as a pilot project in two villages in East Godavari very shortly, as it provides value addition to the product and fetches good price to the farmers.”