Post Harvest Processing of Moringa and Socio-Economic Appraisal of Moringa Orchards in Tamil Nadu

Abstract, International Journal of Horticulture, 2017

The word Moringa is Magic to Many of the consumers both in India and many other countries. Because of the nutritional and medicinal importance of Moringa, the demand for Moringa and its value added products are increasing which in turn permits enhanced area under Moringa from the supply side and hence a study has been taken up in the Western and Southern Part of Tamil Nadu to analyze the reasons for taking up Moringa plantations in a large scale and their economics. This paper has identified few factors which are influencing the cultivation of Moringa and the factors governing the profitability of Moringa. The Economic appraisal tools have revealed that the Moringa cultivation is profitable and hence the detailed analysis of costs and their return is presented and discussed. Besides, the nutritional and medicinal importance coupled with the steps involved in post harvest processing are also discussed for the benefit of Processors.

Keywords : Moringa; Varieties of Moringa; Processing of Moringa; Socio-Economic Appraisal; Cost of Production; Costs and Returns