Paddy straw fuels jaggery cottage industry in Faridkot

Balwant Garg

Faridkot, December 28

In a successful adaptation of utilising paddy straw as a fuel in mini-jaggery making units in the area, more and more farmers are using it for the first time.

Many of these jaggery units, also known as “kulhadas” in local parlance, have started using paddy straw to fuel such plants as it gets really difficult to use bagasse during cold wave conditions due to the high-moisture content in it.

Since a lot of fuel is needed for boiling of sugarcane juice in kulhadas, farmers have switched over to the easily available paddy straw. After extracting sugarcane juice in a conventional crusher, it is filtered and boiled in a shallow iron pan and allowed to cool down.

Though Punjab imports a huge quantity of jaggery from Uttar Pradesh every year, local jaggery-making business has witnessed a boost as farmers hardly use chemicals to clean the impurities.

“Due to indiscriminate use of chemicals in the making of jaggery, this coarse sweetener is now no more a much-loved inducement for connoisseurs of good food,” said Umendra Dutt, executive director, Kheti Virasat Misson, an organisation promoting organic agriculture and farm products.

“In their attempt to manufacture quality jaggery, some farmers have started growing organic sugarcane. Abandoning chemicals helps in preserving minerals and vitamins,” said Dutt.

Two decades ago, the jaggery cottage industry could be found in a cluster of every three-four villages, where farmers used to prepare jaggery to meet their family needs.

Once again, this cottage industry has witnessed a comeback in rural areas, that too at a time when the respective governments have been finding it difficult to manage crop residue.