Hubli: Mahalingappa Basavannappa Itnal, a resident of Sanganatti near Mahalingapura in Bagalkot district, is a Class 10 dropout and owned a bicycle repair shop.
However, an incident at the hospital made him become an organic jaggery producer making 11 different flavours of the sweetener.
Itnal had taken his sick child to the hospital. There he saw a child being treated for consuming chemical jaggery. He then made the decision to make chemical-free jaggery.
He bought sugarcane from different farmers and started making jaggery. He understood that to increase demand for his organic jaggery he had to come out with something different and learnt to make flavoured jaggery.
Presently, the flavoured varieties of jaggery made by him include cinnamon jaggery, ginger jaggery, turmeric jaggery, cloves jaggery, cardamom jaggery, pepper jaggery and basil jaggery.
Demand for chemical-free jaggery is increasing. Itnal produces and sells an average of 2.5 tonnes of jaggery everyday.
Itnal states: "The chemical jaggery sold in the markets presently is made of 200 litres of sugarcane juice blended with 3 to 4.5 quintals of sugar. I am making chemical-sugar-free jaggery with the intention of providing healthy jaggery to consumers."
