Once upon a time GI stood for ‘Government Issue’ and those connected with it were called ‘GI Joe.’ Similarly, AI was an abbreviation for ‘Artificial Insemination’ associated with cows, until IVF and AI reached humankind.
Now, times have changed and AI represents ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and GI is Geographical Indication.
The GI tag is used for an agricultural, natural or manufactured product (handicraft and industrial goods) originating from a specific geographical territory. The name with a GI conveys an assurance of distinctiveness, which is essentially credited to the place of its origin, such as champagne from France.
The ongoing Alexyz@80 exhibition at Calangute, will showcase the ten GIs for Goa.
The GI tag is used for an agricultural, natural or manufactured product (handicraft and industrial goods) originating from a specific geographical territory.
MADE IN GOA
The cashew tree, Anacardium occidentale, originated in Brazil. But, processing it into cashew feni is essentially Goan. Some people in Goa have no problem with feni getting a GI, although they question what is so special about Goan cashew nuts.
Are the raw cashew nuts processed in Goa not the same ones that are imported from Africa? Therein lies the irony. Fortunately, we still have some processors with backward integration to cashew cultivation.
Their cashew nuts are from homegrown nuts and processed at home. These definitely deserve to be famous.
Firstly, it is important to know what a GI is. While one can bottle a ‘Margarita’ because it is a proper noun and name of a person, the word ‘Tequila’ has a GI for the Guadalajara province of Mexico.
No one who manufactures and bottles the drink elsewhere can use the name. So it is with cashew feni. The word feni has a GI for Goa, and efforts are on to get the GI tag for coconut feni as well.
For that to happen, we are in the process of increasing coconut toddy production by encouraging toddy tapping. And, for that to happen, we need to train and motivate the youth to climb coconut trees.
Are the raw cashew nuts processed in Goa not the same ones that are imported from Africa?
Estella Pires will do that on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at the Art Chamber in Calangute. Coconut climbing is an art. Shweta Gaonkar, the motivational renderina or rendeira is likely to make a guest appearance on Monday, October 14, 2024.
It only takes a spark to get the fire going. This is the opening line of the hymn, called Pass it on that choir girls and boys love to sing. It is the spirit of that hymn that fired the Government of Goa on the GI binge, starting with feni.
It all began when JK Dadoo (IAS batch of 1983), was the Development Commissioner and Secretary for Science & Technology in the 1990s. The cashew caught his fascination and feni was the flavour of the season.
The DST&E created a GI Cell, and meetings were held in the Secretariat. Back then, there was no feni bottlers association in Goa. Gurudatta Bhakta and Mac Vaz created one. Feni got its GI.
Now, it finally has a Conformity Assessment Board, or CAB, that will allot the GI logo to the brands that meet the GI standards.
Goa’s ten GI entries – viz Khola chilli, Harmal chilli, Moira Myndoli banana, Goan khajem, bebinca, Agasaim brinjal, sath shiro bhendo or ladyfinger, Mankurad mango and Goan Cashew nuts – will be exhibited together for the first time in Goa at the Art Chamber, Calangute, from October 13 to 15 (by the Botanical Society of Goa) as part of the Alexyz @80 exhibition.
(The author is a former Chairman of the GCCI Agriculture Committee, CEO of Planter's Choice Pvt Ltd, Additional Director of OFAI and Garden Superintendent of Goa University, and has edited 18 books for Goa & Konkan)
