Western Ghats Kokum Foundation - Organic Farming Association of ...

lending it with other nutritious and products like honey or buttermilk. Kokum makes a
very good combination with these products. This health-drink can be packed in tetrapacks
and sold as a zero-chemical drink.
Another slot for marketing is popularizing it as a natural and medicinal souring
agent for cooking. Of course, this is one ethnic habit in Goa. But in the other parts use of
Kokum as a souring agent is very less among middle class and higher classes. The news
reports highlighting the anti-obese, anti-cholesterol properties of HCL present in
G.gummigutta has prompted many housewives to replace tamarind with gummigutta dry
rinds. Kokum has the very same qualities and is pitahara, raktavardhaka too.
One recent and major threat for the value addition of Kokum is the flooding in the
market of chemically prepared products that have negligible or no Kokum ingredients.
Synthetically colored Kokum Juice leaves a red color on your lips. Such concentrates made
with citric acid and colours are available in bulk for a very low price. This is spoiling the
credibility of the market as well as the image of Kokum too. FPO has to act to check this
unscrupulous practice.
Farmers Viewpoint
While we passionately debate about popularizing Kokum and increasing its
production, the farmers' view-point regarding this has to be essentially taken into account.
At the moment, just gearing up production, farmers feel, is not adequate. Unless and until
parallel efforts for the procurement of Kokum at a remunerative price are done, these
attempts might prove counter-productive. Many farmers who have marketable excess are
not able to make earnings from it because of this reason. For the farmer, especially in a small
scale, selling fresh fruits is a far easier option. But at present, there is no appreciable
demand for fresh fruit. Very low keeping quality also is one of the reasons. A solution has o
be sought to bridge these bottle-necks.
Bringing out a recipe book including all our traditional & home-made recipes of
Kokum including Kokum wine, Kokum Hot Kashaya, salted drink, Sol Kadi, Honey-blend
Sherbath etc would be a result - oriented step towards its promotion. Why can't some
development agencies think of organizing Kokum food festival in cities where it is lesser
known and Kokum parlours along highways? Visual media can play a greater role in this
direction.
I am reminded of an interesting effort from the part of an agriculture officer of
Kerala. He was working in Manjeshwar, a border area where he was exposed to the taste and
good qualities of Kokum. He was recently transferred to Kannur District that is about 200
kms away. He took a bagful of Kokum seeds, got a nurseryman to produce seedlings. He
wrote articles in Malayalam dailies about Kokum. Says he, "This is my way of protesting
against Cola."
One aspect we shouldn't forget is that Kokum is a sustainable crop that doesn't
require deep bore-wells to be dug or any naphtha - based or other fertilizers or any
chemical pesticides. It quenches thirst on one hand and maintains our health on the other.
Who knows, it may make a very good natural food colour for food industries in the coming
years. A crop that can be grown with zero-attention and many many home-level uses.
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Resource Book on Kokum (Garcinia indica Choisy)
Western Ghats Kokum Foundation, Panaji - Goa