Thoothukudi: While the palm workers demand that the state government lift the ban on toddy tapping and sales for the economic uplift of around five lakh palm workers, neither the government nor the organisations fighting for toddy tapping seemed to have cared for the revival of the traditional jaggery-making business that is on the verge of extinction.
There was a time, about two decades ago, when the name Udangudi (a village known for jaggery production near Tiruchendur in Thoothukudi district) used to ring a bell with almost all coffee drinkers in the rural areas of the southern district. The Udangudi jaggery was even exported to foreign countries including Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. Moreover, being the closer biggest markets, Madurai and
Tirunelveli had more than 500 wholesale dealers for Udangudi jaggery. Though jaggery production is a seasonal business spanning the summer months from April to June, the dealers have all the necessary facilities to store the product for the whole year. Despite this, most of the jaggery dealers had switched over to alternative businesses.According to a wholesale dealer, Jeyachandran of Tirunelveli, who too had his branches in Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Theni and Virudhunagar,they could not withstand the fall in jaggery production that has been concomitant to the changing lifestyle of the people.
Now there are only six wholesale jaggery dealers in Tirunelveli, where there were 20 times this number of shops earlier,’ Jeyachandran added.The jaggery sales, which were around 20-25 kg a day some 15 years ago in Tirunelveli from the grocery shop owned by Ragavan, now dropped heavily. Ragavan added that he struggled to sell even 10 kg in a month. People now use jaggery only for medicinal purpose.
The steephike in the price of the commodity due to the fall in production dueto lack of skilled labour and the popularity of the instant coffee powders too are said to be detrimental to the jaggery business.To resuscitate the jaggery business the producers and sellers seek thegovernment’s initiative to encourage the use of jaggery at least inthe government-runhostels. Further adding to their woes, palm jaggery production this year has been further hit due to unseasonal summer rains this April.
