Hyderabad: The “Toddy Musical Festival Experience” programme will be organised on May 24 at Experium Eco Park near Chilkur Balaji temple to promote Telangana’s traditional toddy culture and support toddy tappers and palm cultivators.
Unveiling bottles of “Neera” (palm nectar) at a media conference in Somajiguda, Telangana BC Welfare and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the state government was also planning to make toddy and neera available in major and five-star hotels in Hyderabad.
Former minister V Srinivas Goud, MLC Gorati Venkanna and former MP Bura Narsaiah Goud were also present at the event.
The leaders said the 150-acre Experium Park was developed at a cost of Rs 500 crore and that 500 palm trees sourced from various countries at a cost of Rs 10 crore would be installed at the venue.
Govt working to preserve toddy tapping: Ponnam
Describing toddy as a healthy, natural beverage, Prabhakar said misconceptions surrounding it should be removed and added that the government was working to preserve the traditional toddy-tapping occupation.
He said Palmyra and date palm cultivation were being encouraged under the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS), while nurseries in villages would be promoted to raise palm saplings across the state.
Toddy as ‘Drink of Telangana’
The minister also said the government would hold discussions on recognising palm toddy as the official “Drink of Telangana”.
The organisers invited people involved in Palmyra and date palm cultivation to take part in the “Toddy Musical Festival Experience” programme.
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