Rural Women and Entrepreneurship: Value Addition in Aonla

Abstract

About 50% of rural Indian women engaged in farming are classified as labors as they mostly engaged in labor intensive but unskillful works and in absence of proper training, this large chunk of human resource remains underutilized. It means that there is a huge potential for promoting value addition and entrepreneurship development to this segment. With proper training and guidance these women could easily become entrepreneurs by processing farm products, growing organic products, through direct selling, agri-tourism and on-farm education. Aonla or Indian gooseberry (Emblicaofficinalis Gaertn) is indigenous to sub-continent and India ranks first in terms of production. Despite its medicinal values, non-perishable nature and low production coast it remains one of the most underutilized fruits. There is great scope to involve the women to prepare value added products from Aonla such as; Squash, Jelly, Jam, Syrup, Pickle, Chutney, Preserved Pulp, Blended Beverage, Churan Powder, Barfi, Laddoo, Sugar Syrup etc. Thus, value addition in Aonla, can improve profit margins, reduce post-harvest loss, increase export and generate employment for rural women. Given wide-spread production, it could particularly, become a boon for the farm women of UP, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Thus promoting value addition of Aonla and similar farm products may not only bring a change in financial status of scores of farm women but also can also contribute to economic growth of country.