Guwahati entrepreneur’s coconut pickles and jams take off

Guwahati: If you thought that coconut products are limited to the Assamese pitha or laddoos then think twice.

Guwahati-based entrepreneur Malamoni Hazarika has made a business out of making coconut jam and even pickles. A master trainer with the Coconut Development Board today, she was a beneficiary of skill training of the board back in 2005.

Since then Malamoni has made it on her own. She had started with a seed capital of just Rs5000 and has risen to a whopping Rs30 lakh annually in revenues from her unique coconut product. She employs up to 10 people at her production facility in the Vasistha area of Guwahati to make coconut products.

“People are not aware that there could be coconut pickle or jam,” said Hazarika. Her outlet based out of Beltola here, displays the wide range of products she has. The coconut development board extended a subsidy of Rs1.5 lakh for the outlet.

The woman entrepreneur had initially started with mushroom cultivation, processed food and pickles but has since become an authority on training other people in adopting the coconut as a means to livelihood.

Having undergone training at the coastal Kerala town of Kochi, Hazarika is a little disappointed about the poor availability of coconut but carries on with her innovative products nevertheless.

“Price of coconut is very high in Assam,” she said.

Be that as it may, Hazarika is a testimony that the coconut entrepreneur idea is working even in Assam. Coconut development board regional director Rajat Kumar Pal indicated that if aspiring entrepreneurs take one step, the board will walk two steps to help them.

“The Board has plans to empower more entrepreneurs if they themselves come forward. Now on, the entrepreneurs will be able to sell the products with their own initiative. They can sell other products along with those made by coconut,” said Pal.

As for the prices of the magic fruit, Pal said that the Board is planning training programme for farmers to increase productivity. The coconut development board is providing subsidies of up to Rs20,000 to farmers for seedling nurseries.

Coconut has been for ages the cornerstone of the economy and culture of Kerala. Who hasn’t used coir mattresses and ropes or coconut hair oil. The board feels that coconut can help livelihoods in the Northeast also and the board is planning as many as 10 training programmes in order to impart skills.

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