Jaggery production in Mandya district has dipped by almost 30% since the beginning of lockdown due to COVID-19. Uncertainty looms over the sector as majority of the jaggery-making units have stopped production activities as the skilled labourers have returned to their native places.
The production in around 30% of the 539 registered ‘aalemanes’ (jaggery-making units) has completely stopped since the announcement of nationwide lockdown, while it is partially going on at a good number of units, according to jaggery makers as well as traders.
The arrival of various shapes of jaggery between March 25 and May 10 in 2019 stood around 83,000 quintals. Nevertheless, it has dipped to 58,000 quintals during the same period this year subsequent to the slump in output, said Y. Nanjundaswamy, secretary of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), Mandya.
Speaking to The Hindu, the officer said: “The situation would return to normalcy in the coming days.”
Severely affected
The aalemanes in Mandya district produce several thousands of quintals of bucket-shape, box-shape, and cube-shape jaggery and supply them to various States every year. The traders in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh are major buyers for Mandya jaggery.
The production of three tonnes [3,000 kg] of jaggery demands at least 10 man-days. An aalemane can produce around 2,000 kg to 3,000 kg of jaggery by employing 10 men in a day. Most of the skilled labourers were from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other northeast States, and north Karnataka region. Majority of them have left the district, said the owner of a jaggery unit near Chikkamarali of Pandavapura.
“We can hire local men for works such as cleaning, cutting and crushing the sugarcane, and packing the production. But, we cannot hire unskilled workers for boiling cane juice and shaping the jaggery,” he said.
The industry had witnessed similar crisis in 2012 during the exodus of migrant workers from northeast States. The situation had worsened from 2012 to 2016 following drought. Even before the industry could see some revival in 2016, demonetisation left a major blow, a trader at Mandya APMC said.
