Tadakanapalle Khova turns hot favourite

Tadakanapalle: While Bandar is famous for Laddu, Kakinada is noted for Kaja and Atreyapuram for pootarekulu. The list of geographical areas associated with sweetmeats characteristic to the area runs long and the list is incomplete without Tadakanapalle in Kurnool district, which is famous for its khova. Soon, the village emerged as a brand ambassador for the product because of its quality and lingering taste.

The khova prepared here has acquired unique taste because the cattle are fed with organically cultivated grass and women preparing khova take precautions that the ingredients do not lose their nutritional value.

The village is situated 23 km away from Kurnool on Hyderabad-Bangalore national highway. Once dairy flourished in the village. But, because of drought some of the villagers migrated to greener pastures. In the absence of agriculture work due to drought, the villagers engaged themselves in preparation of khova.

The self-help groups’ women fate turned for better as Vijaya Bharati, honorary advisor to Orvakallu Women’s Federation of SHGS, ensured that the SHG women get support from the state government and arranged training programmes in skill development for them at the federation office in Orvakallu.

The women take precautions in raising fodder without applying chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Besides raising organically-cultivated grass, they discouraged the practice of promoting milk yield among buffaloes through administration of injections. They procure milk depending on the natural yield of the cattle. Because of bureaucratic support and also that of the state government, khova units mushroomed all over the village.

As the order book is bulging, the khova units tasted sweet success and generated profits. Current village federation of SHGs president Jubeda’s father and her elder brothers were engaged in khova preparation because it is their source of livelihood.

In 1995, all thrift group members stood united, loans under a bank-linkage programme have been issued to the members and allotment of funds to the groups under the NREGS took place leading to mushrooming of khova units all over the village. The khova of the village became a hot favourite in a short span of time as the women did not compromise on quality.

Taking a cue from the village, surrounding villages of Nanpuru, Loddipalle and Chinna Tekuru started making khova. While some people independently manufactured khova, some others purchased khova to sell it in village from door-to-door. In this fashion, livelihood opportunities for thousands of people have been created.

The Tadakanapalle khova found favour with people because of the unique taste and quality in Kurnool district, which is also home to the famous Pulla Reddy Sweets. The popularity of the product can be gauged with hotels, bakeries and at provisional stores displaying boards indicating that “Tadakanapalle khova is sold here.”

The self-help groups’ women have had their website www.zubedapalakova.com four years ago to book orders online from other places. If the order is huge, Jubeda briefs khova manufacturers about the requirements. If the order is very huge services of khova units in other villages are roped in and workers from other villages are engaged to meet the deadline. The khova manufacturers are sending their wards to schools and took measures to free the village from the child labourers.

The child labourers were enrolled in hostels to enable them to pursue higher studies. In all 60 families in the village are engaged in producing 450 to 500 kg of khova processing 1,000 liters of milk. Each family on an average earns anything between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 a month. The women of the village received shields from late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. This has boosted the morale of the illiterate women.

The activity gained a lot of popularity and there is no exaggeration to say that no villager of Tadakanapalle is devoid of livelihood. A plan has been evolved to ensure that neighbouring villagers seek livelihood in Tadakanapalle. The villagers are contemplating a hostel for cattle on the outskirts of the village to ensure hygienic surroundings in the village.

By V Ramamohan