Drumstick reveals its powder power

AHMEDABAD: Dipen Shah, a farmer from Kunjarva village in Anand district, markets drumstick in powder form. He has won several awards for his innovation which is recognised as an ayurvedic product.
On July 25 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave Shah an award for ‘value addition’ at a ceremony of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research held in Patna.“This is the highest recognition I have received so far,” said 41-year-old Shah.
But Shah was not always a cultivator of drumsticks nor a manufacturer of drumstick powder. Earlier, he used to grow tobacco. He switched to drumstick only after tobacco and its products were banned.
The drumstick — called ‘saragvo’ in Gujarat and ‘sahjan’ in Hindi-speaking states — is a unique vegetable with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial powers. It is also effective in treating infertility, say ayurvedic doctors.
Shah said that when he took up drumstick farming, he was sure it had commercial potential.
“However, I soon realised that the vegetable was not very popular in Gujarat,” he said. “My income began to decline and the drumsticks that were left unsold began to harden due to the heat.”
One day, he decided to crush the dry drumsticks and use them as powder. He used the powder as ingredient while cooking other vegetables and lentils and found that it made the cooked food very tasty.
“I took the opinion of friends and people close to me,” Shah said. “Their response to the cooked product was positive and encouraging. I decided to make drumstick powder out of my entire produce and market it in that form.”
He recalled that Modi, who was then chief minister of Gujarat, had appreciated his product at a conference held at Anand Agriculture University. “Later, during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit of 2013, I was given a huge stall by the agriculture department. The product was liked by many people,” said Shah.
The farmer further said that he had got the powder tested in a laboratory and found that 100 gram of the powder contained 18 grams of proteins, 158 mg of iron, 68 grams of carbohydrates, 82.80 grams of dietary fiber and had high calcium content.