Thiruvananthapuram relishes banana fete

Thiruvananthapuram: When there was a demand for an alternative to maida, there was a surge in the use of wheat in all food sectors. But now, the National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) in Tiruchirapalli under the Indian Council of Agriculture Research has come up with a wide variety of products from banana like noodles, pasta, fig, fruit and nut, ladoo, chocolate and peda. This stall is one of the attractions at Vaiga 2016- - Value Addition for Income Generation in Agriculture, international workshop and exhibition on agro processing and value addition at Sooryakanthi grounds at Kanakakunnu Palace.

One of the star attractions of this stall is their Karpooravalli Banana aka Udayam banana which is a high yielding variety. But the sugar content is between 22 – 24 percent which is on the higher side. The biotechnology wing under the agriculture department functioning at Kazhakkoottam in Thiruvananthapuram has developed the same Udayam banana which weighs 45 kilo. In fact, the free sample of banana fig has been a huge attraction at the NRCB's stall. N. Marimuthu, senior technical assistant at the NRCB told DC that they were in Kerala to market their products as they were not doing roaring business in their home town.

“We are pushing ourselves to have a special marketing scene across Kerala. A package of equipment for the minimal processing of banana’s central core was developed by ICAR – CIAE, regional centre in Coimbatore, in collaboration with the NRCB in Tiruchirapalli”, said Marimuthu. Most households shy away from making value-added products from banana as it is cumbersome to do it with bare hands. This is where ICAR has come up with several agro machinery products that include slicing, dicing, fibre removing units as well as surface water remover, juicer/grinder and juice squeezer. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the concluding session on Monday.