Tamil Nadu: Scorching heat leaves Dharmapuri jaggery producers in deep water
Severe water scarcity in Dharmapuri district has led to a drastic decline in local sugarcane availability, severely impacting jaggery production. With over 200 units and 4,000 skilled laborers affected, producers are forced to source sugarcane from Karnataka, doubling production costs. Jaggery prices may surge to Rs 55/kg from the current Rs 48/kg to offset losses. The Dharmapuri Cooperative Sugarmill confirms the off-season status, exacerbating the crisis.
DHARMAPURI: The unavailability of sugarcane in the local markets has severely hit jaggery production in the district. Jaggery producers are facing massive losses as they are procuring sugarcane from other states.
Jaggery production is one of the key cottage industries in the district with over 200 units functioning across the district. As many as 4,000 skilled labourers rely on this industry for their livelihood.
But over the past few months, the water scarcity across the district has impacted sugarcane production and it has directly affected the jaggery industry.
“Due to the shortage of sugarcane in the district, many units are procuring sugarcane from Karnataka. Moreover, jaggery producers are facing massive losses and this could impact jaggery prices in the upcoming months,” said producers.
Speaking to TNIE, R Chinnasamy, district secretary of the Dharmapuri Jaggery Produces and Sugarcane Farmers Association (DJPSFA), said, “Water shortage has resulted in the decline in sugarcane availability in the district. Currently, there are very few sugarcane cultivators and what they produce is also not enough.
So we are forced to procure sugarcane from Karnataka specifically Mandya and Mysuru regions. This has increased production costs by up to twofold. We have not had a situation like this where sugarcane was unavailable in the district.”
Chainnsamy added, “When procuring sugarcane within the district, it would cost approximately Rs 3,500 per tonne including cutting and transportation. Now, we are buying from other states and the price roughly reaches over Rs 5,500 per tonne. Jaggery units require skilled labour and we also have to consider their pay and keep the business afloat. So in the upcoming months, the price of jaggery could increase.”
K Krishnamoorthy, president of DJPSFA, said, “Each unit in Dharmapuri produces over 25 to 30 tonnes of jaggery every month. Usually, jaggery production recovery is 10%, i.e., to produce 100kg of jaggery we need at least a tonne of sugarcane. Right now the summer heat and water shortage have impacted local sugarcane production and so production costs have doubled in a short span of two months.”
“We did not predict such a situation. Moreover, being businesses, we cannot stop our operations but only continue despite the losses. Hundreds of families rely on this cottage industry alone. Our losses are massive. So the prices of jaggery could increase to Rs 55 per kg to ensure the industry could at least tally losses. At present prices are at Rs 48 per kg,”he added.
Officials at the Dharmapuri Cooperative Sugarmill in Palacode said, “It has been a little over one month since the grinding operations in the mill closed. So normally there would be fewer canes in the district. Sugarcane requires a lot of water and in summer there would be no planting. It is merely off-season now.”
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