Mandya: The jaggery production activities in Mandya district have been affected since the imposition of the lockdown due to Coronavirus pandemic. The skilled labourers have returned to their homes compelling the (aalemanes) jaggery making units to shut the operations. This has resulted in a 30 per cent fall in jaggery production.
According to the news report, there are 539 registered aalemanes in the district. Y. Nanjundaswamy, secretary of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), Mandya said, “These units last year produced 83,000 quintal jaggery from March 25 to May 10. This year they could produce only 58,000 quintal jaggery during the same period.”
They produce different shapes of jaggery lumps including bucket, box and cube shaped jaggery which is supplied to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. And there is a need for skilled labours in the work. These skilled labourers were from UP, Bihar, MP and North eastern states and North Karnataka who left to their native states during a lockdown.
“These labourers were skilled in boiling cane juice and shaping jaggery. We cannot use local workforce for this,” said a Jaggery unit owner.
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