Strawberry jaggery,anyone?

Mane joined the Delhi Flying Academy in New Delhi in 2004.

After completing a ground training course there,he underwent a commercial pilot course in Texas,US. Later,he served as pilot and instructor in the Delta Airlines,US,for about eight months.

I did have a bright future in aviation,but then it was a job after all where I was following the orders of my seniors. I was more interested in business,especially something in modern agriculture. I came back to India in 2008, said Mane,who is residing at Gangapur,about 70 km from Aurangabad.

Deshmukhs family was into growing sugarcanes until the two sugar factories,one at Gangapur and other at Kannad village,stopped operations. With no market left,his family as also other sugarcane growers of Aurangabad and Gangapur tehsils of Marathwada region began feeding canes to their cattle. No other sugar mill was buying their canes either.

Soon,however,the fortunes of the growers saw a turnaround with Mane and Deshmukh deciding to set up a jaggery manufacturing plant on the city outskirts.

While sitting at an ice-cream parlour,we had a brainwave: Like the flavours of ice-cream,jaggery too can have as many flavours. Very soon,we were working on a project. We collated information from the internet,pored over many books and consulted agriculturists. What egged us on was the fact that if the project clicked,we will be the first in the country to have launched flavoured jaggery, said Deshmukh.

Six months later,we were ready with a blueprint of a jaggery plant. In between,we had also registered a company Sahakar Maharshi Balasaheb Pawar Agro Based Industry SMBPABI in November 2009 as a small scale industry with an initial investment of Rs 85- Rs 90 lakh.

While jaggery production in the state is concentrated in southern Maharashtra districts like Satara,Sangli and Kolhapur,the duo set up the jaggery plant in north,at Valadgaon village,near Waluj Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation,about 13 km from Aurangabad.

And one year down the line,the duo,who took loans from a private bank,are even close to refunding the amount.

We started with strawberry flavoured jaggery. We met strawberry farmers of Mahabaleshwar in west Maharashtra and booked a huge consignment of the fruit. Simultaneously,we also started production of mango,pineapple and rose flavoured jaggery.

With an eye on youngsters,the company also decided to try its luck in chocolate jaggery. A good market response to all flavours prompted them to go for cardamom,pistachio and almond flavoured jaggery as well, said Mane.

The plant,covering about 3.5 acres of land,is equipped with high-end machinery. It is divided into five sections,each having three special iron vessels. The head and tail of canes are lopped off and their juice is extracted with the help of an electric machine. The juice is then boiled in a vessel for at least three hours along with the related flavoured powders.

Around 150 -165 labourers,mostly hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh,are employed here. The company has built quarters for the workers on the plants campus itself.

Farmers from the nearby eight to ten villages,like Gangapur,Patoda,Jigthana,Pandharpur and Waluj,are supplying sugarcanes to the unit.

SMBPABI Managing Director Sanjay Patil said farmers are benefitting more than what they would have got had they been supplying canes to sugar factories

While the government rate for a tonne of sugarcane at sugar factories is around Rs 1371,we give them Rs 1400 in cash and immediately after weighing the sugarcane,said Patil.

A tonne of sugarcane produces about 110 kg jaggery. According to the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board,Pune,the state is one of the leading producers of jaggery. Jaggery production in the state is about 11-12 per cent of the total production in the country.

Company assistant managing director Sachin Mane underlined that they are taking all possible measures to deliver hygienic products. Each and every worker here wears gloves,a cap and rubber socks. The company has also applied for an ISO certification.

He claimed that jaggery produced here is 100 per cent natural with no use of artificial flavours,ingredients and preservatives.

Normally,natural jaggery is available at Rs 40 per kg in open market. Fruit- flavoured jaggery costs Rs 50 per kg while cardamom,pistachio and almonds jaggery are slightly on the higher side,at Rs 70 per kg. They are available in packs of one,five and 10 kgs.

While the product has found immediate market in Mumbai,Vashi,Jalgaon,Jalna,Chalisgaon and across Marathwada,an international order,too,has come knocking. A Dubai-based group has sought 15 tonnes of jaggery,which have be delivered by January-end,said Sachin Mane. Samples of flavoured jaggery,sent to the US and UK,too,have been received well,he added.