Juicy drumsticks that satiate your taste buds!

Brand ‘Mangalapuram Munagakaya’

Vijayawada: If you are yearning for the tastiest and juiciest drumsticks, then the varieties that are grown in Mangalapuram hamlet near Vijayawada are the ones that are sure to satiate your taste buds. Growing drumsticks is not just a source of earning, but also so much an integral part of culture and tradition among many villagers of Mangalapuram that most of the households here have a minimum of two trees in their backyard.

For around 400 families in the village drumsticks is an additional source of income with each of them earning approximately Rs.20,000 per annum. Popularly known as Mangalapuram Munagakaya (drumstick) in local slang, the delicious green skinned vegetable is the most preferred choice for vendors and consumers at the Rythu Bazaars.

There was a time when farmers used to go all the way to KR Market, which is about 15-km from here, to sell their produce. But, reflective of its growing popularity and demand, the situation is now vice-versa. Wholesalers and retailers are now making a beeline to the doorstep of the villagers to purchase the drumsticks. Mangalapuram inhabitants proudly claim that the soil in their village enhances the taste and yield of drumsticks.

Mangalapuram Munagakaya has some interesting antecedents. “I remember my father and other villagers walking the entire distance to K R Market carrying drumsticks in a kavadi (yoke) on his shoulders. Now things have changed and the traders are coming to our village,” recalls 76-year-old Thota Subba Rao. According to him, in those days a bundle of 100 drumsticks used to hardly fetch Rs. 2.

Now, the price ranges between Rs. 200 to Rs. 300. Subba Rao recalls that the property used to be divided taking the number of trees into consideration. “My grandfather got a drumstick tree as his share, while his brother got 60 cents of land. Our ancestors believed that a drumstick tree was more valuable than land. An acre of land hardly cost Rs. 100 then.

According to another villager, Madu Durga Rao, the demand has been going up considerably during the last three years. “I earned Rs. 20,000 from five trees in my backyard. All the credit goes to our family tradition,” he says.

By Dasari Srinivasa Rao