Mangoes in Sri Lanka

The Mango Project in Sri Lanka is a collaboration of three universities: the University of Guelph, Ontario in Canada; the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore in India; and the Industrial Technology Institute in Sri Lanka. The teams are using technology to reduce post-harvest losses and to increase the shelf-life of mangoes.

Six sub-projects are being funded by the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund. The two-year Mango Project from 2012 to 2014 aims to use a natural anti-microbial agent and nanotechnology to develop smart packaging that reduces post-harvest losses.

In Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka, many mango trees are neglected – not trimmed – and infected with pests. Mango Project will work with growers in Jaffna to share post-harvest technology. Although there are between 17 and 20 varieties of mangoes in Jaffna, the Project will focus on the well-known karthakolomban variety as well as TJC mangoes grown in plantations.

Men pick and bring mangoes to collection centres but most mango handlers before re-distribution are women who sort and repack the fruit into boxes. So the expected outcomes of the project are (1) a smart delivery system that can form the inner lining of fruit cartons, dividers and wraps, (2) a reduction of post-harvest wastage, (3) higher income for growers, (4) better jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for women, and (5) a way to recycle waste.

Indra Jayasekera, in A Taste of Sri Lanka, has the following Sri Lanka Sweet Mango Chutney:

225g mangoes
100g sugar
2 garlic cloves
3 slices ginger
2 tspn. mustard seeds
2 cloves
2 cardamom
75ml vinegar
half tspn. chili powder
pinch of salt
50g sultanas

Peel and slice mangoes and place in a bowl for 3 hours with half the sugar. Crush the garlic, ginger, mustard seeds, cardamom, and cloves together. Mix these ingredients together and add vinegar, chili powder, and salt. Put the mixture in a pan and add the remaining sugar. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Add mango slices. Mix well and cook for a further 10 minutes. Mix well and stir in sultanas. Serve.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

The Beggars' Strike by Aminata Sow Fall: book review

The Beggar’sStrike (1979 in French and 1981 in English) is set in an unstated country in West Africa in a city known only as The Capital. Undoubtedly, Senegalese author Sow Fall writes of her own experiences. It was also encapsulated in the 2000 film, Battu , directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko from Mali. Mour Ndiaye is the Director of the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, with the opportunity of a distinguished and coveted promotion to Vice-President of the Republic. Tourism has declined and the government blames the local beggars in The Capital. Ndiaye must rid the streets of beggars, according to a decree from the Minister. Ndiaye instructs his department to carry out weekly raids. One of the raids leads to the death of lame beggar, Madiabel, who ran into an oncoming vehicle as he tried to escape, leaving two wives and eight children. Soon after, another raid resulted in the death of the old well-loved, comic beggar Papa Gorgui Diop. Enough is enou

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog