GI tag conserves fragrance, rich taste of Maharashtra's 7 agri products

Pune: Your vegetable vendor will not be able to palm of onions from anywhere as Lasalgaon's and your supermarket won't be able to label just any rice as ghansal.
Tags will ensure both these agricultural products and five others from the state are authentic in taste and genuine now that they have a geographical indication tag.
Ajara's ghansal rice, Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri's kokum, Vengurla's cashew, Lasalgaon's onion, Waghya's ghevda, Mangalvedha jowar and Navapur's tur were awarded certificates of Geographical Identification (GI) by the Chennai-based GI registry on Thursday.
Maharashtra also had the maximum number of 14 agricultural Geographical Indications (agri GI) accepted by the GI Registry.
Seven other products have also been accepted for the tag and will receive certificates in due course. Earlier, the GI tag was awarded to Kolhapuri chappals, Kolhapuri jaggery, Mahabaleshwar's strawberries, Nashik's grapes, Jalgaon's brinjals and Nagpur's oranges .
A geographical indication (GI) is a name or a sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin like a town, a region, or a country. A community's intellectual property is attached to that particular product.
"It took 2-3 years to get GIs for these products. The tag for these products means that their uniqueness has been verified by an expert committee of the Government of India," Ganesh Hingmire, chairman of Pune-based Great Mission Group Consultancy (GMGC), which has been instrumental in securing these certificates.
Scoring a GI for a product helps the community in getting a premium price like the northeast India's Darjeeling tea. The GI creates a distinct identity of the product, assures the buyers of quality, brings reputation to the product and creates an international market for the products.
Vengurla's cashew got a GI for its scientifically proven nutritional value and because its vitamin C content is five times more than that of an orange.
Ajara's ghansal rice has been proven to be better than Basmati. The elongation ratio of ghansal rice is many times more than Basmati. Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri's kokum is naturally rich in hydroxycitric acid helpful in weight-loss tablets. Lasalgaon's onion has the highest sulphur percentage.
India is a heavy consumer of beans (rajma) and 90% of it is imported. The rest mostly comes from Waghya's ghevda. Mangalveda's jowar and Navapur's tur are nature's gifts and tribal products, respectively. Navpur's tur is famous for its fragrance and pleasant taste.
Since most of these are agricultural products are from villages, an immediate export market is created and it helps create an international demand for them, experts said.
These products have been given GI's for either their nutritional, or scientific importance for which they will now be recognized at the national level.
The ultimate beneficiaries of this process are the farmers who will now have to get themselves registered as authorized users to be able to avail of the benefits, Hingmire said.
Another seven products were accepted for GI certification and their names were published in the official journal no. 78, 79 and 80 by the Union government.
"Certificates to these will be issued in a month's time," said Hingmire. These products are Sangli's raisins, Waigaon's turmeric, Jalna's sweet orange, Beed's custard apple, Solapur's pomegranate, Purandar-Saswad's fig and Jalgaon's bharit brinjal.