International Journal of Horticulture, 2018, Vol.8, No.3, 16-28
16
Research Article
Open Access
Status of Value Addition and Export of Moringa Produce in Tamil Nadu-a Case
Study
C. Sekhar
1
, N. Venkatesan
2
, D. Murugananthi
3
, A. Vidhyavathi
1
1 Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore – 641 003, India
2 Department of Social Sciences, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Killikulam – 628 252, India
3 Department of Agricultural and Rural Management, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore – 641 003, India
Corresponding email:
International Journal of Horticulture, 2018, Vol.8, No.3 doi:
10.5376/ijh.2018.08.0003
Received: 03 Jan., 2018
Accepted: 08 Jan., 2018
Published: 10 Feb., 2018
Copyright ©
2018
Sekhar et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Sekhar C., Venkatesan N., Murugananthi D., and Vidhyavathi A., 2018, Status of value addition and export of moringa produce in Tamil Nadu – a case study,
International Journal of Horticulture, 8(3): 16-28 (doi:
10.5376/ijh.2018.08.0003
)
Abstract
Moringa is widely used as vegetable and grown commercially for its edible pods and leaves.
Moringa oleifera
is an
important food commodity which has had enormous attention as the ‘
natural nutrition of the tropics’
. The leaves, fruit, flowers and
immature pods of this tree are used as a highly nutritive vegetable in many countries particularly in India, Pakistan, Philippines, Hawaii and
many parts of Africa. India is the prime producer of Moringa (Drumstick) with an annual production of 2.2 million tonnes of tender
fruits leading to the productivity of around 51 tonnes per ha. Tamil Nadu is one of the largest producers of Moringa with an annual
production of 6.71 lakh tonnes of tender fruits from an area of 13042 ha. An aggregate sampling to the tune of one hundred farmers
whom are cultivating Moringa in their farms and 20 Traders forming a sum of 120 samples. Besides a Case Firm is also contacted
which is involved in Manufacturing and Export of value added products of Moringa. The name of the case firm contacted is M/s.
Miracletree Life Science has its headquarters at Madurai. The Firm has its own plantation in and around Madurai which is
established in an organic way. There were 18 products to their credit manufactured by them.
M/S Miracle Tree Life Science
firm is
concentrating international markets by sending some of their products abroad. Among the various products, the Moringa Wunder
Mix is exported to Germany and has received good repute to the firm. One hundred gram of Wunder Mix is priced at Rupees seven
hundred which is equivalent to $ 10.77. The firm has gained FSSAI certificate, HALAL certificate, Good Management Practices
Certificate and Organic Verification Certificates to its credit. The need of Value added products of Moringa is growing alarmingly
both in Regional, National and International Markets and hence the technology and infrastructure support must be provided with a
focus on precision farming technologies for enhancing higher productivity from the level of 28 tonnes per ha. For that an
organizational intervention is needed and hence a “National Research Centre for Moringa” or a Commodity Board on the lines of
“Tea Board” may be established and pronounced as a “Moringa Board” for tapping its potentials both in production, processing for
value addition and Export.
Keywords
Value addition; Export of moringa; Case study on moringa; Natural nutrition; Wunder mix; Moringa chocolates;
Moringa tablets; Moringa leaf powder
Background
Moringa (
Moringa oleifera
Lam.) belongs to the family ‘Moringaceae’ is a fast-growing multipurpose medicinal
tree extensively grown in tropics and subtropics of India and Africa. It is also widely distributed in India, Egypt,
Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Pakistan, Singapore, West Indies, Cuba, Jamaica and Nigeria.
In eastern and southern regions of India, Moringa is widely used as vegetable and grown commercially for its
edible pods and leaves.
Moringa oleifera
is an important food commodity which has had enormous attention as
the ‘
natural nutrition of the tropics’
. The leaves, fruit, flowers and immature pods of this tree are used as a highly
nutritive vegetable in many countries particularly in India, Pakistan, Philippines, Hawaii and many parts of Africa
(D’Souza and Kulkarni, 1993; Anwar and Bhanger, 2003; Anwar
et al.
, 2005).
Moringa
leaves have been reported to be a rich source of β-carotene, protein, vitamin C, calcium and potassium and
as a good source of natural antioxidants; and thus, enhance the shelf-life of fat containing foods due to the
of various types of antioxidant compounds such as ascorbic acid, flavonoids, phenolics and carotenoids (Dillard
German, 2000; Siddhuraju and Becker, 2003). In the Philippines, it is known as ‘mother’s best friend’ because of its
