unutx bvl ...,... - Mr. B. C. Joshi then presented the following paper.

Paper

SUGAR YIELDING PALMS AS A POTENTIAL SOURCE

SUGAR SUPPLY

13. C. JOSH[ AND N. GOPINATHAN Bhartiya Tad GudShilpa Bhawan, Dahanu

,

At present the two main sources of sugar supply in the world are the sugarcane and the beet. Both these are extensively cultivated in differell! countries and it is estimated that together they produce about 40 to 42 millioil me& tons of sugar annually. With the increasing consuinption of sugar as an article of diet and the new avenues that are being opened by m~derhi~scientific research for its use as a source for other useful products, it is expected that the demand for sugar will shoot up considerably in the very near future. This will necessitate either a marked increase in the present acreage of sugarcane 2nd keet or to tap alternative sources of sugar supply. It is well known that both sugarcane and beet require fertile lands for growth with plenty of irrigation and heavy

288 MANUFACTURING SECTION

manuring. Under the present circumstances, when the human population is rapidly increasing all over the world, it may become impracticable to bring under ]I

may become imperative in due course to release a part of the land already locked up under cane or beet cultivation for the production of essential food-crops.

SUGAR YIELDING PALMS

There are about 1100 ltnown species of palms distributed among 131 genera. The palm belt as shown in the following map extends ronghly from 45" S Lat. to ,

45" N Lat. Palms are essentially tropical and partly sub-tropical plants capable of

growing on waste lands without any apparent maipring or irrigation.

I,-- - -

Table T giveg the genera of sugar yielding palms along with the particular species found in India :-

TABLE I Tribe I-Coryplzinoe

(i) Phoenix 1 . Plzoeniceoe

2. Sabaleoe (i) Trachycarpus

(ii) Corypha

k Tribe 11-Borassinoe 3. Borasseoe

(i) Borassus Tribe 111-Ceroxylinoe I

4. Arenicaoe (i) Caryota (ii) Arenga

(iii) Areca 5. Cocoineoe

(i) Cocos Tribe ZV I

B.C. JOSHI, N. GOPINATHAN

The.,importance of the above palms is clearly indicated from the figures given in Table I1 below :-

, . TABLE I1 '

Date Palmyra (Phoenix (Borassus

Sylvestris) Flabilliformis) nucifera) -

1 . Life of the tree (years) 50 to 60 2. Commencement of

15th year 8th year Spadix or Spadix

4. Tapping season Oct. to May Jan. to July Throughout the year 5. Overall tapping period 25 to 40 70 to 95 25 to 35 15 to 20

of a tree (years) 6. Tapping period in a season 4 to 6 Male- 2 4 6

Female-4 to 6 7. Average yield of juice 5 lbs. 6 lbs. 4 lbs. 20 lbs.

per tree per day 8. Seasonal yield of Max. 50 lbs. 150 lbs. 80 lbs. 400 lbs.

gur per tree Min. 15 lbs. 40 lbs. 60 lbs. 200 lbs. 9. Average sucrose %

10 12 14 10 . 10. No. of trees tapped by

one tapper per day Max. 40 80 30 10 Min. 20 10 10 5

11. No. of trees grown in one acre 500 500 80 100

12. Mode of tapping One day's Twice Twice or Twice or tapping a day thrice thrice followed by a day a day three days' rest

Tables 111 and IV give an idea of the yield of sugar from palms as compared with sugarcane :- '

TABLE I11

Average yield per Average cost of cultivation acre in terms of gur for gur per acre

-- - Sugar cane ... 3550 lbs. Rs. 3501-to 4001-

... 6160 lbs. Almost Nil

TABLE IV

Yield of gur Coconut palm . . . 12 to 18 % on weight of juice Date palm . . . 10 to 15% -do- Palmyra palm ... 10 to 16% -do- Sago palm . . . 8 to11% -do- Sugar cane . . . 18 to 20% -do-

At present, as per statistics, about 36 lalchs acres of good fertile land is under sugarcane cultivation in India. Sixty five percent of this crop, grown in about 23 lakhs acres goes for the manufacture of 3 to 4 million tons of cane gur (raw sugar) per year, The only alternative, therefore, to save fertile land al;d prevent ilational waste is the utilisati~n of the untapljed wealth of palms.

PALM GUR (RAW SUGAR) INDUSTRY IN INDIA

The manufacture of gur (unrefined form of sugar) is an nge old industry in India. The sap of the palm furilishqd the material for sweetening purposes, but the beginning of the ltnowledge of the palm, as a sugar producer lies hidden in the unrecorded files of antiquity. Mr. Noel Paton in his notes on "Sugar in India (1911)" gives an estimate of palm gur produced in India as 4 lakhs and 80 thousand tons forming about 17% of the then total production of sugar. The Industry was mainly confined to the provinces of Bengal, Madras and the States of Travancore-Cochin gnd there is every reason to believe from available informations that it was a flourishing industry'in those ljarts duriljg the 17th 18th and the earlier days of the 19th cenkury.

The first illdustrialisation of sugar in India was associated with the palm sugar,and it was in 1837 that the first sugar factory was started by Mr. Blake at Dhobah near Burdwan,

This was soon followed by two more factories. These factories were sugar refineries making use of palm gur purchased froin the local markets. By this time two other refineries sprang up in Madras province also. F3v.t the history of these refinerias is a very short olle as they could not flourish due to factors liks: eq~alisation sf duties, free-trade policy, increasing cost of labour etc. The upheavels in the refining industry however, surprisingly did not inuch affect the indigenous palm gur industry, and it survived in spite of lack of proper enc'ouragement and help from the Government.

RECENT-GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDUSTRY

With the advent of freedom and the formation of a National Government in the country, the once neglected palm gur and sugar industry soon found ib rightful place in the nqtional development schemes. The avowed Government policy of prohibition created the enormous problem of rehabilitating the thousands of ex-toddy tappers thrown out of employment and this gave a new impetus to the development of the industry. A Palm Gus Section was attached to the Central

B. O. JBSHI, N. GOPIMATHAN -29 1

Ministry of .Food and Agriculture with a Palm Gur Adviser to the Government of India as its head in 1947; since then, the development of the industry was spectacular. A Central Palm Gur Training School was started for conducting . research work and imparting training in the art of tapping palm trees and manufacturing superior quality gur and sugar on cottage industry scale. Within a few years time, besides reorganising the industry, which was already existing in some of the States, it was introduced as a new experiment in most of the remaining states. Today the section and the school are working under the All India Khadi & Village Industries Board under the Central Ministry of Production. The Palm Gur Development Scheme is now operative in 17 States in theIndian Union.

THE TECHNJQUE OF GUR AND SUGAR MANUFACTURE

The gur and sugar manufacture from palms is practised essentially as a village industry in India.

The wide and irregular distribution of palms throughout the country and the impossibility of pooling large quantities of juice at a central place for utilisation in the mills have made it essentially a decentralised industry.

I

I Fig. 1. Tapping of date palms.

292 MANUFACTURING SECTION.

(a) Tapping of palms :-The art of collecting juice from palm trees through slicing the twnk or the illflorescence is called "tapping." It is generally done by means of incision cuts or slicing the respective parts of the palin tree. In the case of coconut, palmyra and the sago palms, juice is extracted from the spathes forming the inflorescence. The date palm trees are tapped through cuts or incision at the tender topmost part of the tree just below the crown of the leaves.

Fig. 2. Aeiial r o p s ' w a y s for tapping palmyra palm. 3 L - ,

The present day tapping methods as practised by the tappers are the results of their long experience and knowledge.' Though quite scientific in technique, tapping remaills as a very hard and laborious operation especially due to the hazardous climbing process required to reach the tree top.

(b) Nature and composition of pa/~m juices:-The sweet juice obtained by ta6ping any sugar-yielding palm is called 'neera.' It is a transparent liquid with a sweet taste and pleasant flavour. When freshly drawn from the tree, it is almost neutral and water-like ; but exposure to the atmosphere makes it easily ' susceptible to the action of micro-organisms which ferment it to form the intoxicant

, beverage toddy with an acidic reaction and a foul smell.t For the- preparation of gur and sugar it is of vital importance that the juice must be preserved fresh by

I

Y

B. C. JOSHI, N. GOPINATHAN

I. Fig. 3. A group of palm tappers.

I the addition of a proper preservative. Lime has been and is still being used universally for this purpose. The addition of lime prevents the fermentation of the juice by imparting to it a strong alkqline reaction which inhibits the action of

294 MANUFACTURING SECTION 1

Fig. 4. Boiling of palm juice.

yeast and other micro-organisms. The juice so collected is rich in sucrose content and its importance as an invaluable source of sugar may be gauged from the following typical analytical data collected at our research laboratory.

I

B. C, JOSHI, N, GOPINATHAN 295

TABLE V --,

Palmyra Coconut Date palm Sago palm Juice Juice Juice Juice

-

Solids as Brix % 13.5 18.7 14.6 10.9 11.8 15.9 12.2 9.7 87.4 85.0 83.6 89.0 11.7 15.8 12.0 9.7

Reducing Sugars % 0.2 0.5 0.3 0.1 pectins and gums % 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.03

0.3 0.5 0.6 0.3

(c) Process of gur and sugar manufacture :-For the manufacture of gur and sugar, the juice collected from a number of trees is pooled at a central place, clarified and boiled directly'into gur or 'rab' (massecuite) as the case may be by open pan boiling methods. The clarification is effected by first straining the juice through wire-mesh to remove the suspended foreign matters and then deliming in hot using phosphoric acid or triple superphosphate solution. The tricalcium phosphate precipitate so formed along with other impurities is removed by either settling and decailtatioll or direct filtration through a drill-cloth or a hand-operated filter press. A very simple and efficient method of clarification standardised recently gave very promising results. The purity rise is as follows :-

TABLE VI --

(Limed) raw juice Clarified juice . Red. Brix Brix

Purity Sugar % Red. Mud Pol%

% % % purity Sugar % MU^ -- Sample I 11.7 9.2 78,6 0.39 13.2 11.0 83.3 0.40 6,O 5.8

,, I1 13.3 10.6 79.7 0.25 13.7 11.4 83.2 0.30 7.5 6.3

The clarified juice is directly boiled into gur or rab. The boiling is carried out in open rectangular G.I. pans or in aluminium pans of 22 gauge and size 6' x 2' x 8". A very economical furllace 'called 'Kifayat Bhatti' recently introduced gives a fuel consulliption of 30 to 35% light fuel on juice weight for gur boiling, Another better and more economical furnace using aluminium pans introduced recently and known as the 'Mufeed Bhatti' consumes 25 to 28% fuel only. In the case of gur, strike point reaches at about 118" to 120°C. and rab at about 112°C. Gur is moulded into desired shapes according to requirement and the rab is transferred into small crystallisers for further crystallisation, The sugar i~ separated by using hand driven centrifugal , machines,

MANUFACTURING SECTION

(d) Composition of palm gur and sugar:-The composition of the different varieties of palm gurs is given in the following Table :-

TABLE VII

Palmyra Date palm Coconut Sago palm gur gm gur gur -

Pol % 77.2 68.8 79.6 82.2 Sucrose % 76.0 69.7 79.4 81.2 Reducing Sugar % r : 4.0 8.1 2.6 0.8 Moisture % 10.5 9.9 8.7 11.2 Ash % 3.6 - 4.1 3.4

Nutritional analysis of palm g'ur as analysed by the Director, Nutritional Research Laboratories, Coonoor, is as follows :-

Moisture % 8.14 Protein % 0.35 , Fat % 0.17 Minerals % 0.74 Carbo-hydrates % 90.60 Calcium % 0:06 Phosphorus (P) % 0.06 Iron (Fe) (mgms. per 100 gms.) 2.50 Calorific value per 100 gms. 365 Nicotinic Acid mgms./100 gms. 5.24 Vitamin B1 mgms./100 gms. 21 Riboflavin ,, 432 VitaminC , , , , 11

ANALYSIS OF PALM SUGAR (CENTRAL PALM GUR TRAINING SCHOOL, CUDDALORE)

1st sugar 2nd sugar Sucrose % 98.7 96.2 Reducing Sugar % 0.1 0.6 Moisture % 0.05 0.09 Ash % 0.16 0.20

POTENTIALITIES OF DEVELOPMENT FOR THE PALM SUGAR INDUSTRY IN INDIA AND ABROAD

'According to the recent estimates the total palm population of the Indian Union is over 19 crores. Of these, at least 7 crores may be considered tappable. It is expected that these seven crores of trees, if tapped properly, will produce about 2 million tons of palm jaggery and this 2 million tons of palm jaggery will release 14 lakhs acres ~f fertile land at present devoted t~ svgarcaae cultivation.

B. C. JOSHI, N. GOPINATHAN

The present stage of development and the potentialities of the industry are shown below :-

(a) Annual gur production . . . (b) Total seasonal employment :

(i) Direct beneficiaries (tappers) . . .

(ii) Indirect beneficiaries (auxilary rural artisan) (1) Pan boilers . . . (2) Potters and brick

layers . . . (3) Smiths hnd others . . .

I (c) Relaxation of pressure on

fertile land ... 33,100 acres 14,00,000 acres

Present stage (1952)

Potentialities on 7 crores palms population 'basis

59,104 tons 20,00,000 Tons

In addition to the above, well planned schemes of planting more palms, throughout the country utilising all possible waste lands are ulider way. And in fact lakhs of palms have already been planted in selected areas . These palms when matured will serve as a steady source of our future sugar supply.

What has been said about India is also true of the other palm growing count~ies of the world. Palms are known to grow in-abundance in Burma, Indo-China, Siam, Malaya, Indonesia, different parts of Africa, South America and Mexico. In Chile (South America) these palms are tapped for themanufacture of palm syrups. In Ceylon, Burma, Cambodia and parts of Philippines sugar making from palm juices is a very old industry. With the rapidly increasing population of the world the need for producing more and more food crops is being keenly felt every where. Before it is too late, well thought out plans to curtail the use of fertile lands for raising cash crops shall have to be chalked out and this will bring the uncared for, the unmanu;ed palm trees growing wild all over the world into due importance. Moreover extensive and large scale plantations of sugar yielding palms will have to be undertaken and this will probably be only a matter of time.

SUGAR FROM PALMS, A NEW EXPERIMENT IN DECENTRALISING INDUSTRY

The history of the palm sugar industry in India as discussed above shows that in spite of the attempts to centralise it in the past, the industry has remained essentially a village industry throughout. There are certain inherent difficulties in centralising it and these may also probably be real blessings in disguise. For, in this age of heavy mechanisation increase in production has no meaning unless there is increase in purchasing power. This requires adequate employment.

2d8 MANUFACTURLNG SECTION

Only a decentralised industry can assure job for a surplus population. But to survive competition with centralised industry requires great efficiency. This is what is required in particular for t he palm sugar industry. I t is a challenge to the modern science to devise ways and means and adopt its immeilse resources to. suit a decentralised ecoilomy with a high degree of efficiency. There are a number of problems facing the industry, but these have to be solved with all patience and perseverence.

There are bound to be difficulties and disappointments in the initial stages as there had always been in the case of the cane and beet sugar industries which were once heavily suhsidised by Governments. I t may be recogaised that India is the first country to realise on a national level the so far dormant potentialities of the palms as 'tube wells' of sugar suphly. She has launched on a great experiment and it may well inspire other palm growing countries of the world, to follow suit and make real "wealth from waste."

REFERENCES

1 . Gajanan Naik. 1949. "Palm Gur." Published by the All India Village Industries Association, Wardha.

2. "Tad Gur Parichaya." Published by the Palm Gur Section, A11 India Khadi and Village Industries Board, Bombay.

3. Joshi, B.C. 1952. "Development of Palm Gur Industry in India." Proc. of 21st Conv. of the Sug. Tech. Assoc., India, p. 90-103. I ,

4. Joshi, B.C. 1954. "Tapping of Palms and Conlposition of Palm Juices.'' Proc, of 11th Conv. oftlze Deccan Sug. Tech. Assoc., p. 164-174.

5. Blatter. 1926. "Palms of British India and Ceylon."

DISCUSSION

In reply to a question Dr. Doss said that he did not think that a considerable pait of the demand for sugar would be met with by tapping the palms. He added that Mr. Joshi was trying his best to make that a possibility, and if one succeeds in (a) tapping the palms continuously, (b) avoiding microbial action and (c) growing dwarfed palms having the same growth qualities as natural palms, palm sugar might become a competitor to cane.