Sweet biz of Palakova puts Tadakanapalle in spotlight

Kurnool : Andhra Pradesh has many untold stories. There are many hard-working entrepreneurs but what is required is recognition and handholding in terms of marketing facilities and they can prove to be key foreign ex-change earners for the country.

Here is an example of one such interesting and inspiring story of about 50 families who live in a village, Tadakanapalle, in Kurnool district adja-cent to the national highway 44. They manufacture ‘Palakova’, a milk sweet popular across the state. Just as Atreyapuram in West Godavari district famous for Pootha Rekulu and Kakinada for Kaza, Tadakanapalle is known for Palakova or what is known as Doodh Peda in Hindi. The village has about 600 families and this industry is providing liveli-hood for 200 families. Despite lack of proper marketing facilities or help from government agencies, Palakova has found its way across the seas and is exported to a few countries though on a small scale.

At a time when one is not sure of the products, Palakova made here does not compromise on quality. It is made of pure buffalo milk. They require about 2,500 to 3,000 litres of milk per day and the entire quantity is sourced from the village itself.

The village has more than 400 buffaloes, which are fed in scientific man-ner. They have proper caretakers and sheds for the cattle. A team of vet-erinary doctors work there to check the health of the buffaloes. Tadakanapalle village also has the distinction of its initiative getting showcased at the Niti Aayog by then District Collector G Veera Pandian and the previous TDP government had allotted 10 acres of land for the cattle sheds and grazing ground in 2017. The initiative began with 40 buffaloes and their number has now grown 10 times. Each family, according to the villagers, earns about Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 a month. Nari Shakti plays an important role in this business as women belonging to the Self Help Groups are actively involved in the manufacture and sale of Palakova.

S Jubeda Begum has been the first woman to start the Pala Kova business. Talking to Hans India, she recalled how it all started. She said it was originally their family business for about 50 years, and she inherited it from them.

They used to prepare two verities of Kova with 250 to 350 litres of milk, one with sugar and the other with jaggery. While sugar Ko-va has a shelf life of 10 days jaggery one can be stored for a week.

Kova is now being purchased by dealers for Rs 180 to Rs 220 and is sold for about Rs 400 per kg. While the profits can go up if proper and scientific marketing system is created.

The good thing is that this business has en-sured that no one is unemployed in the village. Keep in tune with chang-ing trends, they have now gone online as well, Jubeda added.