Salem: This Pongal, the famous Salem jaggery, the main ingredient for making the traditional pongal delicacy, may be in short supply. With cultivation of sugarcane plunging in Salem, the production of jaggery and sugar has trickled down by 20 per cent, say farmers and traders. Every year, during the Pongal season, jaggery production would peak by 5 tonnes a day from 10 tonnes to 15 tonnes - to meet the demand for jaggery. The jaggery made from Salem sugarcane is in special demand during Pongal as it has a unique, sweet taste.
Though jaggery is produced in Chithode and Kavundam padi in Erode district, Pilikkal palayam in Namakkal district and Dharapuram in Tirupur in western Tamil Nadu, it is the sweeter Salem jaggery whi ch fetches a premium price in the market, claim jaggery-makers. However, the Salem jaggery may get scarcer this Pongal as cane production has hit a new low in the district.
About 200 jaggery-making units thrive in Karuppur, Thekkampatti and Kamalapur in Omalur taluk of Salem. “As the rains were not adequate and sugarcane did not fetch a good price, many sugarcane farmers have shifted to other crops. So, cane cultivation has been hit badly and so has the production of jaggery,” says R. Ramesh Kumar, secretary of the Jaggery Manufacturers and Farmer Association in Salem district.
Last year, a bag of 30 kg jaggery balls and cubes fetched Rs1,000 to Rs1,250. This year, the prices are unlikely to go up though production has dropped, say jaggery makers. With the fall in jaggery production, many workers in the jaggery units may lose jobs, say jaggery manufacturers. Besides, the jaggery units have been using the cauldron designed some 40 years ago. “The huge cauldron in which we make the jaggery is not fuel efficient and leads to increase in cost of production.
The government should help us by providing a modern cauldron which helps to cut down on fuel cost,” says Ramesh Kumar. The government could also provide jaggery ball making machinery at a subsidised rate, urge jaggery manufacturers. The arrival of jaggery in the Salem city market is dropping steadily, says R.L. Kennedy, the Salem City Jaggery Traders president. “However, jaggery price is not likely to go up steeply during Pongal,” he added..
