This Woman Is Enabling Resurgence Of Homegrown Kiwi Through Her First In India Kiwi Winery Enterprise

NITI Aayog, through its initiative in collaboration with the United Nations, has come forward with the fourth edition of #WTIAwards2019 to recognise the efforts of women entrepreneurs who are challenging conventions and playing a pivotal role in #TransformingIndia. If you are one of those women entrepreneurs disrupting the status quo, get yourself identified by NITI Aayog by clicking here. Today- 17th November 2019– is the last day to register for #WTIAwards2019. Please apply before 11:59 P.M.

Kiwi fruit is abundant in the lush forests around the Ziro Valley in Arunachal Pradesh, especially where the Apatani tribe lives. Despite its abundance, however, locals struggled to sell the produce because of the demand for imported kiwis in the country.

Kiwi farmers in Arunachal Pradesh were close to stopping the cultivation of the fruit and shuttering their farms – at least until Tage Rita invested in Naara-Aaba, a boutique winery in 2017. INDIA’S FIRST KIWI WINERY In Arunachal Pradesh’s Ziro Valley, the homegrown kiwi is experiencing a resurgence, courtesy Tage Rita’s innovative winemaking initiative that trains and supports farmers to cultivate kiwi fruit with a buyback assurance.

Tage found the solution to a local problem, brewing the first-ever pure kiwi wine in India from fruit sourced from her personal orchard and the Kiwi Growers Cooperative Society in Arunachal Pradesh. Farmers are happy to have an assured buyer for their produce and some farmers who had moved away from kiwi farming because they did not have access to the market have now returned to growing the fruit. Drinking wine is an age-old tradition among the various tribes of Arunachal Pradesh and so wine-making is not a new concept here.

But traditional methods did not allow for the preservation of kiwi wine for a long duration. It took Tage six years of in-depth research and careful planning to find the right solution between traditional winemaking and modern techniques. Today, the kiwi wine is available in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh for INR 1,200 a bottle. Exporting the product to the rest of India remains a challenge due to a lack of connectivity to the airport and frequent landslides. Tage is unfazed, however. She plans to ramp up production and make a batch of sparkling wine — again, the first of its kind in India.

To conclude, if you are one such woman entrepreneur or you know one of such women entrepreneurs playing a significant role in #TransformingIndia through their remarkable enterprises, don’t forget to get their names identified at NITI Aayog’s #WTIAwards2019. Click here!