Indian .Journal of T raditi onal Knowledge Vol. 2(2). April 2003. pp. 137- 147

Palm gur industry in India

K 0 Kamhlc*

Khadi and Village Industries Commi ssion. 3-lrla Road. Vil e Parle (West). Mumbai 400050. India

E-mail: mi skvic@vsnl.nc t

Received 21 Janllary 2002 ; revised 3 February 2003

Thc paper g ives an overview o f the hi story. current status, prohlems and prospects o f Palm G llr Industry in Indi a, concerning diffe rent palm products.

Keywords: Palm Gur Industry. Khadi and Village Industries COlllmi ss io n. Tapper a rti san s. Palmyra palm. Date pa lm , Neem. Cur. Jaggery. S ugar. Candy. Palm lear. Palm libre. Training programme. Policy support , Effect ive market ing.

The making of golden palm g ur with its characteri stic aroma and f'lavour is one of the shinning traditional skills of Indian people. The indigenous artisans, for ages, are engaged in this activity and are tap­ping palmyra palm and date palm to get sweet neera which ultimately g ives gur or jaggery, sugar, candy and other re freshing drinks. Bes ide this Ileera and its diverse products and de rivatives, these magnifi­cent palms o ffer so much to mankind in many ways, where its roots, trunk, leaves, fibres, saplings, fruits, cach in its own intrinsic way fulfil man's economic, so­c ia l, ed uca tional, gastronomic and aes­thet ic needs. Nothing in these humble palms is ever wasted, as each part serves some useful purpose. Hence, the present paper, though named after " Pa l m Gur" ,

"' Direc to r (Chemical based Industrics/Monitoring Ce ll ). KV Ie. Tel- 022 2C,2RC,214.

could no t res trict its focus limited to the titl e theme o nly , rathe r it ovcrflowed to the other utilitarian aspects as well .

History of Palm Gur Industry

Palm trees usually thrive in tropical and sub-tropical reg ions . I n fact, the re is an area desig nated as ' Palm Be lt ' of the world , which ex tends up to 45° on both sides of the eq uato r. Thi s belt in vo lves three cont inents covering 13 countries in Africa, ten in Asia and fi ve in South America.

During Briti sh rule , the development of the Indi an cane sugar indu stry ullde r the policy of imperial pre fe rence and later tariff protec tion, use of vacuum pan and sulphitation processes and the govern­ment encouragement to s ligar cane plan­tations adverse ly affected palm g ur and palm sugar manufacture. The All India Village Industries Association, which was established in 1935. made some efforts to

INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE. VOL 2. No. 2, APRIL 2003

rev ive and propagate the use or palm gur. In 1937, when popular local ministries came to power in difrerent provinces, prohibition was tried to introduce. Conse­quently, palm gur making was encour­aged, particularly in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu provinces, as an alternate source or employment to the displaced tappers who, earlier, used to make a country liquor (toddy) by rermenting /l eero (sweet sap from palms), and about 1,600 Palm Gur Cooperative Societies were registered in Tamil Nadu alone. However, later developments saw the fall or these ministries and with them prohi­bition was abandoned. This resulted in a set back to palm gur industry. After inde­pendence, a separate section was estab­li shed in the Union Ministry of Food and Agriculture in 1947 to look after the de­velopment programme of palm gur in­dustry . Apart from the States namely Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, where palm gur making had de­veloped as traditional industry, on ac­count of consumer demand for it, efforts were made to develop the industry in other States also where such tradition did not exist. Training of artisans in tapping, preservation and sale of lIeera, distribut­ing improved tools and equipment and arranging demonstrations and exhibitions for propagating neera and gur were the main facets of the development pro­gramme. When prohibition was intro­duced in 1951 as a national policy, the organisation and development of palm gur, palm sugar and other products of palm stalk, palm fibre and palm leaf as an alternative means of livelihood to the dis­placed toddy tappers became imperative.

A Central Training School was also es­tablished to train these tappers.

Palm Gur Industry under KVIC The Khadi and Village Industries

Commission (KVIC) took over the work of this Industry in 1957 from the All India Khadi and Village Industries Board. Technical guidance was provided to in­stitutions and cooper.ttives in the Palm Gur Industry for its orientation on scien­tific and viable lines. The Commission' s development programme. among others. covered the rollowing a<;pects:

( I) Strengthening of the organisational base of the Industry by selling up or Pri­mary Cooper.ttive Societies or artisans and ~heir Federations at the State and All India levels; (2) Supply or technical know-how, improved tools and equip­ments and other financial assistance ror tapping and gltr manufacture: (3) Intro­duction of vacuumatic sugar and candy manufacturing techniques: (4) Populari­sation or lIeera a<; a beverage with facili ­ties for storage, tTansport, etc.: (5) Train­ing of artisans and other State level tech­nical and managerial personnel.

In India, Palmyr.th palm (Bomsslts fla ­belliJer Linn.) and Datepalm (Phoenix daclyliJera Linn. and P. sy'veslr;s Roxb.) are traditionally used for obtaining vari­ous edible and non-edible products. It is estimated that there are 18 crores of palm trees in India. About 12.59 crores trees are estimated to be available for tapping. or which approximately 3.08 crores are being tapped for Ileem. Ir all these twelve crores or available trees are used ror pro­ductive purpose, it would gi ve employ­ment to about 6.3 million persons and the

KAMI3LE: PALM GU R INDUSTRY IN IN DI A 139

FLOW CHART FOR PALM PRODUCTS

EDIBLE PRODUCTS NON-EDIBLE PRODUCTS

/ ~~ I NEERA I I PALM LEAF I'AI ,M FIHRf': I TIMBER J

I I NEERA j COLLECTION

GUR MAKING

LEAl"

I SUGA R I MAK ING

I NEERA

I PALM FIBRE

I NAAR I CATERING & BRUSHES GUR /

& BROOMS JAGGERY

I SIJCiA " II CA NDY PALM USED AS

MAKING LEAF FUEL& FANCY & PACKAG ING UTILITY MATER IAL

I CANDY ARTICL ES

I PALM SUGAR I f PA I ~MTA I TOFFEE ISOFT DRINKS)

to tal producti on would be nea rl y 4.20 million to nnes o f g llr and o the r products.

Technical problems and work under Palm Gur Industry

The Pa lm Gur Industry mainly be lo ngs to traditional artisans who know the a rt of c limbing tall trees and have made this haza rdous work as their main occupation for live lihood . Mos tl y they are poor and

USED FOR HANDSTICK

& SHreD CONSTRCTION

NAAR I OFHOME ARTICL ES

belo ng to the weaker sections of the soc i­ety, i.e. Scheduled Castes and Schedu led Tribes. Millions of artisans are engaged in the manufacturing activities o f Pa lm Gur Industry in the southern part of the country, West Bengal, Ori ssa and to so me extent in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The data o n tota l work fo rce en­gaged in Palm Gur Industry is no t ava il­able due to widely di spe rsed nature o r

140 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 2, No. 2, APRIL 2003

Fig. 1- A tapper c limbing a palmyrah palm

KAMBLE: PALM GUR INDUSTRY IN INDIA 141

Fi g. 2- Top: Slicing the inflorescence for tapping; Bottom Left: Young ' artisans engaged 111 handicraft ; Bottom Right: Fancy art icles from palm leaves

142 INDIAN J TRA DIT IONA L KNO W LEDGE. VOL 2. No.2. A PRIL 20m

actI vItIes. Even in the statisti ca l publica­ti ons, no where thi s occupati on is men­ti oned state wise. Thi s is a seasonal in­dustry prov iding employment on an aver­age for 150 days in a yea r. The manufac­turing acti viti es are carried out in small hamlets of inaccess ibl e vill ages by the ramil y members of the arti sans. Under Kh adi & Vill age Industry Sector, fin an­cial ass istance has been ex tended to 6.64 lakh s persons. No other organi sed agency except Khadi & V. 1. Commiss ion has taken-up the programme of Palm Gur Industry in the country. The Kerala Gov­ernment has created Palm Products Cor­porati on to look after the tappers' family by prov iding fin ancial ass istance and marketing faciliti es in Kerala. Differe nt State Govern ments also started fi nanci ng through co-operati ves and other si mil ar bodi es like Di stri ct Federations and State Federati ons fo r the development of the Industry and upliftmcnt of tapper arti sans.

Objectives of the Industry The mai n objecti ves of the Palm Gur

Industry arc enumerated as under: • Strengthening organi sati onal base

fo r the Indust ry by setting up pri mary co-operat i ves of arti sans and Distri ct and State Level marketi ng cooperati ve federati ons for arranging marketing faciliti es for

•

•

•

•

•

•

arti sans' prod ucts. Extending finan cial ass istance fo r developmental scheme and promo­tional ass istance to the arti san's co­operatives through State Khadi & Vill age Industri es Boards. Suppl y of techni ca l know how and arranging supply of improved too ls and equipments to the arti sans. In troducti on of improved meth ods of producti on and its demonstrat ion in the fi e ld . Conducting research and devel op­ment of new area of producti on and elimination of drudgery in the pro­ducti on processes of ex isti ng schemes . Building up of raw material s and suppl ying them to arti sans engaged in manufacturing or pa lm products. To utili ze abundan t and valuable natural resources i.e. pal m trees whi ch are othcrwise un-exploited.

• Po'pulari sing products of Palm Gur Industry espec ially neero as bever­age by va rious med ia of pu bli city and educating potential buyer about the nutriti ve value of neera .

Characteristics of the Industry The characteri stics of the Palm Gur In­

dustry are enumerated as under: • Thi s is a traditi onal industry. The

Tablc 1- Pcrformancc of Palm Gur Indusl ry during 1997-2000

Years

1997- 1998

1998- 1999

1999-2000

Prod uclion of cdib le/ non-ed ible products

(lonnes)

195 10.20

20257 .1 6

18650.92

Sa les (Rs. in lakhs)

2 1nnAO

22ll97 .X6

2 17 11.1 7

Employment Earning (pcrsons) (Rs. in lak hs)

74 100() 12:15:U 1

755000 1:1 1 :lO.65

778000 1400 l. X7

•

KAMI3LE: PALM GUR INDUSTRY IN INDIA 143

tapper community had taken-up varIOUS activiti es of Palm Gur In­dustry as their main occupati on for livelihood in the country. Generally , no other community will accept lap­ping of Palms as an additional source of income due to its hazard­ous nature of work. This is a seasonal industry. It pro­vides empl oy ment to the artisans for 150 days in a year. In addition, the

•

industry keeps all the family mem­bers, including women and children , engaged for the whole seasoil. The manufacturi ng of palm products can be started with meagre fin ancial inves tment.

Constraints of the Palm Gur Industry

• Tree climbing process for tapping palm trees still remains the most dif­ficu lt and arduous task.

Tab le 2 - Export o f Palm lea f articles and Palm fibre

Year

1997- 199R

1998- 1999

1999-2000

Pa lm lea f arti cles and palm fibre

(Rs. in lakhs)

4 1.83

80.37

8S. 10

Country to which exported

Bclgiu:n. U.K., Japan. France. Ire­land, Ita ly, Canada. Germ any. Australia. Philippines .. .

Table 3 - Economi cs of single palm per year

Raw Illalerial s QlY· Finished Apprnx i Ill ale available products va lue (Rs.)

PALMYR A H Neem 150 l i tres G ill' : 20 kg 2.2S0.00 PALM Fibre I kg Bru shes : 150.00

12 (No.) (No.=nuillber)

Eark 2 kg Baskets: nO.OO (tender Ill id rib) 4 (No.)

Leaf R (No.) M at: 6(No.) 30.00

Naill' 16 (No.) Basket: I (No.) 50.00

2,540.00

DATEPALM N eem 100 - 120 lilres G ur: I .ROOOO 12 kg

Lea f IS kg Broom: 300.00 15 (No.)

Peti ole 2 (No) Baskets: 50.00 4 (No.)

2. 150.00

144 I. DIAN J TR A DITIONAL KNOWL EDGE. VOL 2. No. 2. A PRIL 2003

Table 4 - NUlri li ve val ue of Neem ( in 200 ml)

pH Sugar (gm) Calcium (mg) I ron (mg) Phosphorus (mg) Thiam ine (pg) Ribofl av in (pg) Ascorbic Acid (Illg) N icolanic Ac id (fIg) Pro lein (mg) Calori es

7.2 28.8 35.4 5.5

32.4 82.3 44.4 12.2

674 . 1 49 .7 11 8.3

• Younger generation from rural areas does not find tapping occupation ac­ceptable, as it is not adequately re­munerat i ve.

• Neera ferments and gur melts, thus both of them are having storage problems. Thi s makes marketing ef­forts very ri sky.

• The durability of palm leaf fancy arti cles is also short .

• Cost of fu el for boiling neera makes g il/, producti on uneconomi cal.

• Sc ientific methods to distingui sh palm sugar from cane sugar used in areated beverages are not avai lable 10 press for exci ~e exemption on so ft drinks. Thus, in the absence of thi s special pri vilege palm sugar pro­ducti on is di scouraged.

• There is a cut-throat competition faced from the toddy tappers by those who tap palms for production of neaa and gllr. The toddy con­tractors can afford to pay higher wages whereas neera sales and jag­gerylgllr production do not ensure wages to that leve l.

Remedial measures taken The last fo ur decades were significant

for the deve lopment of Palm Gur Industry. Initi ally the emphasis was on develop­mental and promoti onal acti viti es whi ch aimed at covering more and more arti sans and upgrading their skill and effi ciency. Pilot Model Demonstrati on Centres and Palm Gur Extension Services Centres were set up in both traditi onal and virgin areas with a view to transfer the improved process and techniques in volved to grass root leve l. Later on, efforts were made to strengthen research activities in order to minimise the drudgery of arti sans and elimination of bas ic problems pertain ing to preservat ion of neaa and storage and packing of jaggery ensuring better shelf life and quality of edibl e palm products.

As regards fu el economy, a number of hi ghl y efficient furn aces for small sca le boiling have already been evo lved. Re­centl y a very effi cient furnace having multipl e pan sys tem has been evol ved at Gandhigram Rural In stitute, Gandhigram. Tamil Nadu . But it is yet to be put to commercial boiling operati ons at arti sans level. Efforts were made to use solar en ­ergy for manu fac turing of jaggery.

For enhancing efficiency and reducing ri sk to arti sans in climbing trees, methods like aeri al rope ways and bamboo ways have been introduced in the fi e ld and as a res ult 40 percent effi ciency of the arti sans has increased. The method of ladder counter weight system and the new im­plement dev ised by Mis Mary's Industry in automati c climbing of trees are under tri al in the fi eld and it appears th at with certai n modifi cati ons it coul d be put to commercial use very shortl y in the fi eld .

KAMBLE: PALM GUR INDUSTRY IN INDIA 145

Efforts were made to di versify non­ed ibl e palm products of the industry. Visiting cards made from palm leaf are becoming popul ar among the peopl e. It has very good markets due to its unique­ness.

Fibre ex traction and process ing were traditionally done manuall y by beating leaf stalk or frond of palmyrah palm with heavy wooden hammer. Recentl y fibre ex traction and process ing machine units have been introduced. The unit can be operated by male or female arti sans. By introducing the unit the effici ency and drudgery invol ved in fibre ex tracti on and processing have been co mpl etely elimi ­nated. Now the large sca le fibre produc­tion is poss ibl e in traditional and virgin areas .

Apart from the measures already intro­duced by thi s Directorate, as enumerated above, other measures pertaining to the qu ality and standardi zat ion of edibl e palm products, marketing, creating infrastruc­ture, introduction of new schemes and products have been taken-up from time to time with a view to increase producti vity, el i mi nate drudgery and enhance competi­ti ve capacity and increase earnings of the artisans in Palm Gur Industry.

Quality Control The Directorate of Palm Gur Industry,

by collecting the samples of palm sugar, palm gur, palm candy and palm fibre brushes from its implementing agencies like i ndi vidual entrepreneur, co-operati ve soc iet ies, Distri ct Federations and State Federation s, and by checking with the given specifications from FPO & BIS, has adopted the quality control measures

for standardi sati on of some of the prod­ucts. Specifications for so me products like palm gur Uaggery) and palm fibre brushes are available from the Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. Other edi­ble products like jam, squashes and jell y have been approved under Food Products Order.

Training Programme The present status of lrai ni ng faci I i ti es

available under Palm Gur Industry is given in Table 5.

Government Policy Support Some policy support measures ex­

pected from the Govern ment are:

• Taxes on palm products may be re­moved.

• Exc ise duty on palm sugar based products may be withdrawn .

• There should be a liberal approach in respect of issuance of tapping li­cence, fixation of rent of palm trees, local taxes and other lev ies.

• Establishment ex penditure on State Palm gur Federati ons may be met by respective State Governments.

• Monetary prov isions are needed for undertaking census of palm wealth in the country.

• Palm trees on the land of local Gov­ernments/Panchayats, Ce ntral Gov­ernment/Undertakings should be ex­clusively reserved for tapping /l eero.

• Neera is a nutriti ous and healthy drink. Concrete sc ientifi c method should be developed for preserva­tion of neera , palm g il,. and other related products.

146 I DI AN J TR AD ITrONAL KNOWLEDG E. YOL 2. No. 2. APR rL 20m

Tab le 5- Tra ining Prog ramme

Name of the Cc ntre

Centra l Palm gu r & Palm Prod uc ts rnstitute . No. 39 . Ami Nagar. M.M . Colony. C hc nna i ~ 600 051

Gajana n Na ik Palm gur Tech­no logy Develo pme nt Centre. P. O. Dahanu , Thane Di stri ct. Maharashtra - 40 1 60 1

Rcg ional Palm gur Train ing Centre. I-D. Beach Road , C uddalo re ~ 607 00 I. Sout h Arcot Di s!. Tamil N3d u

Dr. B.R. A mbedka r rn stitute o f

Namc o f the Course

Palm Produc ts Tec hno logy Course Certifi cate Co urse in Palm Sugar Making Brush Making/ Confec ti one ry & rnd igenous Swec t Meat Making/Pal m Lca f Art ic les Making

Neera CateringiPa lm Leaf Artic les Ma king/Brush Mak ing

Du rat ion of pcr iod

8 Months

6 Month s

3 Mont hs (Each Co ursc)

3 Months (Each Course)

Confecti one ry & ind igenou s Swcet 3 Months Meat Making/Pa lm Lea f. Agallv (part o f (Eac h Course) tende r pa lm leaf), Naar & Ea r/;. Artic lcs Making/Brush Ma king r rappers Profi -c iency Course.

Ru ral Tech nology & Manage- Bru sh Making 3 Mo nths (Each Course)

men!. KYI C, Pos t ~ Tri mbak Yiclya Mandir. Nas ik. Mah3rashtra ~ 4222 13

Suggestions fo," effective marketing of the palm products

Socie ti es and Cooperati vc Federa­ti o ns at no minal rent conside ring the socia l significance of the Palm Gur Industry .

I . There is a need to have o rgani sed Artisans Cooperative Societies and Fede rati o ns that can take up mar­keting ac ti viti es of palm products. Excise and s imil a r other regulati o ns restri c ting the sale and transpo rt of neera and o ther palm produc ts should be removed .

2. All Zonal Ra ilways may be re­ques ted to prov ide place for sa le o f ncera and o ther palm products on the pl atform o f majo r ra il way s ta­tion s to the Arti sans Cooperative

3.

4.

All the State Governments may be reques ted to i"sue sui tabl e i nstruc­ti ons to the local bodies to allo t space for putting up sales kiosks and stall s in the marke ting complexes constructed by them at nominal rent on prio rity bas is.

All the State Governments may be reques ted to exempt neera and o ther palm products from the payment of advertisement tax and octroi.

KAMBLE: PALM GUR INDUSTRY IN INDI A 147

Conclusion Keeping In vi ew the nature and

hi storical background o f the Palm Gur Indu stry where poor tapper arti sans and women fro m weaker sections be low poverty line are mos tly engaged, thi s Industry needs to be treated at par with Khadi Programmes for which necessary policy support may be g iven for its survival/development. On the line o f the State Government o f Tamil Nadu where the palm is treated as a ' State Tree', policy support also needs to be g iven in

other concerned States where plenty of palms are available.

In consideration of the progress of tech­nical developments in vari ous spheres of this Industry and the existence of yet un­tapped vast potential for further develop­ment of thi s Industry on a wider scale with implications in producing Wealth from Waste and offe ring employ ment to a large number of persons mostl y dispersed in rural tracts all over country. thi s traditi onal knowledge based industry deserves to be propagated, promoted and encouraged .