Tripura wants to popularise stevia to contain diabetic

Agartala, June 24 (UNI) With the alarming trend of diabetic patients among the people above 35 years, the Tripura government has taken up a pilot project for cultivation of ''Stevia'', a herbal plant, which produces natural sweet to combat the malady.

The government has chosen Bishalgarh, some 30 km south of this capital town, to grow this herbal plant initially, official sources said.

An all women NGO of the area was assigned to start plantation of stevia some two years ago following a serious revelation of the Diabetologists, which had suggested a natural substitute for sugar to combat the incidence of diabetes.

Block Development Officer, Bishalgarh, Tamal Majumder, who was given charge for execution of the project, said the growth of stevia plantation was giving a good result.

The NGO has already set up a leaf processing and packaging unit of stevia providing all required facilities.

Researchers said the climate and soil fertility are favourable for stevia cultivation in Tripura and the farmers are hopeful of doing better as the market opportunity appears large and the demand was gradually rising elsewhere and outside of the state.

Internationally acclaimed Diabetologist Dr N Gonchoudhury said an all-natural stevia extract is a dietary supplement, which is 350 times sweeter than sugar, is calorie-free and dietary safe.

''The present lifestyle and automation is contributing to higher incidence of diabetes in Tripura but if one has ever tasted stevia, he knows it's extremely sweet,'' Dr Gonchoudhury attributed.

He claimed some 10 per cent people above 40 years in Tripura are diabetics and the trend is showing higher than many other parts of the country. About 25 per cent people of the state will suffer from diabetes in 2030 if the present trend continued, he claimed.

According to Dr P K Bhattacharjee, President of Tripura Diabetic Forum, the products of stevia can be added to cooked, baked or processed foods and beverages though a very little known in India.

In fact, this remarkable non-caloric herb, native to Paraguay, has been used as a sweetener and flavor enhancer for the centuries.

''In the Pacific Rim countries, China, Korea and Japan, stevia is regularly used in preparation of food and pharmaceutical products while in Japan alone, an estimated 50 tonne of stevioside is used annually with sales valued in the order of 220 million Canadian dollar,'' Dr Bhattacharjee added.

According the project Executive Mr Majumder, at the time of processing the leaves sweet crystalline diterpene glycosides are extracted from the stevia. It has established that Stevioside is non-caloric, however, measured to be 200-300 times sweeter than that of sucrose.

Statistics indicate that in some countries up to 30 per cent of their needed sugar is replaced by chemical-based (synthetic) stevioside-like sweetness products Research trials conducted at the Agriculture Canada, Delhi Research Station indicate attainable yields in the order of 2000-3000 kg/ha dry leaf and stevioside content ranging 15-20 per cent double that of other parts of the world where stevia has already been grown and processed commercially.

Each stevia plant cost only about Rs five, which can be cultivated even in the back yard or the wasteland in and around the houses.

After ninety days from the day of plantation, we start plucking leaves, which can be repeated four times in a year. While the fresh leaves are sold at Rs 100, the dry leaves are sold at the rate of Rs 400 per kg, said Asim Saha, a cultivator.

UNI