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| Ramankutty, Vadukkara, Thrissur |
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Those who are wont to use mill-produced coconut oil may not understand that true coconut oil is colourless like the water of a mountain stream. And that is the sorrow of Ramankutty, a farmer from Vadukkara, Thrissur who produces coconut oil in the traditional oil-press driven by bullocks in front of his house. Since he dries the copra in sunlight, the extracted oil does not have the yellowish tint, which the common folks take as a true characteristic of the oil!
Ramankutty knows both the traditional as well as modern methods of extracting coconut oil. And so he realized that the pure form of coconut oil is that got from the traditional press. His next effort was to secure a press. After 2 years of search in many parts of Kerala and Pollachi he could finally locate a dysfunctional oil-press at Payyannur. After overhauling the device he started production by harnessing a pair of bullocks to the yoke.
While one person drives the bullocks, another mixes the copra in the press manually. Other workers are engaged in breaking the coconuts and sorting the copra. The oil coming out of the press is collected through a pipe at the bottom and is then allowed to settle.
The colourless oil thus obtained is itself the proof of its purity, says Ramankutty. Another advantage of the method is that in this process, the oil does not get heated up.
He sells the product as ‘Paithrukam’ coconut oil in bottles of 1 lt, ½lt and ¼lt. At a time when there is a process to produce 250 lt of oil per day, does his production of 25 lt per day stand a chance? Ramankutty is hopeful that people will slowly come to know the quality of his produce to make it sustainable.
The oil-press in action
Courtesy: Biju S.Balan (text and photo), Karshakashree, January 2003
Contributed by: Administrator
