Ernakulam:Vazhakkulam, a village in Ernakulam district, which is said to be the hub of pineapple farming in Kerala turns into winemaking in an attempt to sustain, amid COVID crisis.
The production of value-added products at the government-run Vazhakkulam Agro, Fruit Processing Company has been badly hit, as most labourers haven’t been able to come for work following COVID lockdown.
The villagers, mostly pineapple farmers of Vazhakkulam, are now hopeful of tiding over these bad times, as the Kerala Agriculture Minister, V S Sunil Kumar said the company will turn to winemaking to overcome the COVID crisis which has badly hit production.
The government has given its nod for large scale wine manufacture using pineapple, across public and private sectors.
The state government intends to start with a public sector company in the first phase of wine manufacture.
Once the Excise Department’s approval comes through, the state’s first wine making unit will start functioning at Vazhakkulam Agro and Fruit Processing Company, in Ernakulam, said Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar.
The crisis experienced in the pineapple market due to COVID outbreak and the following lockdown could be addressed to an extent by reviving operations here, the Minister said, after visiting the Agro and Fruit Processing Company.
The sale of Jive products which had once ruled the international markets will also be revived. The issues regarding farmers’ shares on this will be sorted out soon, he added.
The construction of a pet bottle plant at the cost of Rs 5 crore is in the last stage. The management and the staff hope that many more value-added products can be manufactured at the company, once the pet bottle plant also becomes operational.
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