Lucknow
With an aim to promote the gud (jaggery) industry, raise awareness about its health benefits and explore possibilities for jaggery-based products, the Sugar Industry and Sugarcane Development Department of the Uttar Pradesh government is organising a two-day long ‘Jaggery festival’ in Lucknow on March 6-March 7. The event will be inaugurated by state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The purpose of the Gud Mahotsav is to promote the jaggery industry, raise awareness about its health benefits and explore possibilities for jaggery-based products in the market. The festival is also to encourage sugarcane farmers and the cane processing industry to produce jaggery of the highest quality and manufacture jaggery-based products. Suresh Rana, Minister of State for Sugar Industry and Sugarcane Development, said the two-day affair would lay special emphasis on the health benefits of jaggery.
Various stalls have been set up to promote the sale and awareness of jaggery and products that are made from it. There are several types of jaggery available at the event flavoured with aniseed, cardamom, dry ginger, peanuts, saffron, almonds and sesame. There will be laddoo, tea, ice cream, halwa and pongal, all made of jaggery.
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Panels spearheaded by experts in the field will discuss the challenges in the jaggery industry. There will also be a focus on the contribution of women in the production of jaggery. The minister hoped that as a result of the Gud Mahotsav, there will be a rapid increase in the development of the industry and India’s jaggery will be recognised on the world stage.
Gaon Connection has also been passionate about promoting similar jaggery-based products through its ‘Slow Products’ range. These products are sourced from food items that were once a part and parcel of the Indian civilisation but have now been forgotten in the razzmatazz of the so-called modernity. The mission behind this product range is to link the Indian farmers and indigenous producers of local products with the markets all over the world. These products are known for their top-notch quality and reasonable prices. Also, 10 per cent of the profit on these products is shared with the farmers and the local producers.
Informing further, the minister said that three leading districts in jaggery production, namely Muzaffarnagar, Ayodhya and Lakhimpur Kheri have been selected for the ‘One District, One Product’ policy. This is expected to increase employment opportunities in these states.
