Vellore Spiny Brinjal, Ramnad Mundu Chilli conf new products- Vellore Spiny Brinjal and Ra manathapuram Mundu Chilli of Tamil Nadu, have been conferred the prestigious Geo- graphical Indications (GI) tag for their unique physical and rounding. geographical characteristics. Tamil Nadu GI Products successful by Govt Advocate Sanjai Gandhi
Tamil Nadu Products successful get IPR order by Madras High court Govt Advocate P. SANJAI GANDHI
Vellore Spiny Brinjal, Ramnad
Mundu Chilli conf new products- Vellore Spiny Brinjal and Ra manathapuram Mundu Chilli of Tamil Nadu, have been conferred the prestigious Geo- graphical Indications (GI) tag for their unique physical and rounding. geographical characteristics. As the mandatory four month notice period for the projects is over on February 21, they are now deemed to have been reg istered as GI products.
With this, the total number of Tamil Nadu products that have earned GI recognition has risen to 45, placing the state at number two spot. Kar nataka has got maximum GI tags with 46 Kerala is in third position with 36 GI products.
Vellore Spiny Brinjal, known as Elavambadi Mullu Kathirikai in Tamil, is a rare, thorny native breed grown in Vellore district. The vegetable days. is oval in shape and has a glos sy shade of violet mixed with pink colour with a tinge of green in the distal end. The av
erage weight of a single spiny brinjal is 40 grams, and it has a shelf life of three days under room temperature, and about eight days in refrigerated sur
Spiny Brinjals are rich in protein (2%) and vitamin C based in Vellore. content (10.5mg/100gm). It is considered tastier than other. brinjal varieties and it re quires adapted cultivation or farming techniques to pro- duce a quality crop. It has a unique power to resist pest and disease attacks. The thorns present in all parts of the brinjal plant, except the fruit, make the crop highly dis tinctive and recognizable. The fruit is soft and fleshy and it is a cluster-bearing variety that yields about 40-45 tonnes per hectare in a duration of 140-150
Relying on historical data, including village land records like ‘Adangal’ which have en tries of farmers involved in
NEW ADDITIONS: Vellore Spiny Brinjal, Ramanathapuram Mundu Chilli
cultivation of this brinjal for centuries, Government advo- cateand IPR Attorney P Sanjai Gandhi made the GI applica tion on behalf of the South In dia Multi-State Agriculture Cooperative Society Limited
The Vellore Spiny Brinjal can be baked, barbecued, fried, roasted, steamed or even pickled. It is also a favoured ploughing. dish along with briyani, brin jal serwa, sambar, poriyal and evening snacks. It has high tol erance to drought and high temperature and is uniquely linked to the agro-climatic conditions in Vellore region.
It is grown mainly in Tiru vadanal, RS Mangalam, Mu dukulathur, Kadaladi and Ka- muthi taluks of Ramanathap uram district. It has a contin- uous recorded history of cultivation in this district for “Former chief minister M over 200 years and is known for its rich taste and aroma. For better yields, farmer pick rip- ened fruit frequently and they are dried on tarpaulin sheets or on raised cement platforms. A crop yields 3-4 pickings(The dried pods are exported to Sri Lanka, Nepal, the USA, Eu
Karunanidhi, while inaugu rating the Vellore Uzhavar Sandhai (Farmers Market) specifically mentioned Vel- lore Spiny Brinjal, describing its rare qualities,” said Sanjai Gandhi, adding that contem- porary travellers and bloggers too have documented its rope, Thailand and Japan)
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unique taste in journals and blogs. Application for the pun- gent Ramanathapuram Mun- du Chilli was made by Ramnad Mundhu Chilli Producer Com- pany Limited. Mundu, which in Tamil means ‘fat and round, belongs to Capiscu- mannum species. It is a round shaped chilli popular in South Indian cuisine and used as food colourant. It has a dark shiny and thick skin and is a directly sown rain-fed crop grown. It is also highly toler ant to drought and salinity It is a low input crop as farmers use the seeds of their previous cropfor next season. For direct sowing, three to four plough ings are undertaking, and sowing is done in the last
