Lesser known facts about this nutritional & immunity boosting plant that PM Modi consumes

Team Udayavani, Dec 27, 2020, 6:03 PM IST

Mangaluru: From the government to doctors and wellness experts, everyone stressed the various ways to build immunity and suggested organic remedies to keep the novel coronavirus away.

As a result, many humble kitchen spices and herbs like turmeric or Haldi, Tulsi, black pepper among others, became buzzwords in the last 10 months.

There is also the instance where Prime Minister Narendra Modi made headlines for eating drumstick parathas to boost immunity.

While talking about the importance of fitness Prime Minister talked about his recipe for making parathas with drumsticks, which he said he still eats once or twice a week and it became the buzzword of the year.

So what is this inconspicuous but nutritional drumsticks or moringa?

Moringa is a food, a vegetable, and medicine – a true superfood. Every part of it can be consumed and studies state that their leaves, after being harvested and dried, contain 30% proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals.

The moringa leaves have seven times more Vitamin C than oranges and 15 times more potassium than bananas.

Banking on these super-benefits of the moringa leaves, a homegrown brand – Sumathi Organic Farms has started a range of moringa products.

Sumathi Organic Farms, an NPOP and NOP-certified farm, is spread over 180 acres at Yedapadavu village about 30 kilometers away from Mangaluru city.

Co-founded by cousins Arjun Rai and Balakrishna Alva after learning the importance of and demand for moringa leaves across the globe, they decided to utilize the ancestral land to grow this superfood.

Arjun says that they have adopted a natural way of farming and use compost manure, Dashpanna, Panchagavya, Jeevamrutha, and other organic fertilizers to grow the plants.

Panchgavya is a mix of cow dung, cow urine, ghee and buttermilk and is sprayed once in ten days over plants for nutrient growth of the plants.

Dashapanna acts as a pest repellent.

Arjun further adds that they have adopted mixed cropping of moringa, banana and papaya with 80% dicot and 20% monocot plants to help in the growth of plants.

Moringa leaves aren’t the only highlight at Sumathi Organic Farms, they also grow a wide variety of plants including Brahmi, amla, rice, areca, coconut, pepper, turmeric and fruits like pineapple, papaya, banana, jackfruit, chikoo, kokum and three types of tulsi.

“The compost, manure, slurry, growth promoters, pesticides and fungicides used on plants are made on our farm. We only have indigenous cows as hybrid cows aren’t recommended for organic farming,” says Arjun.

Sumathi Organic Farms export powdered moringa leaves to Germany and even sell their products under their brand name Viroga on e-commerce websites.

The powdered moringa leaves have a shelf life of 2-3 years.

Arjun also informed that they plan to introduce banana peel powder soon as the peels have nutritious content but are not fit for direct consumption.