Jaggery tales from Mahalingapura

The town is next only to Mandya when it comes to jaggery business. Lorry-loads of jaggery are transported to Gujarat from the APMC in Mahalingapura, because there is a huge demand for good quality, lighter shade of jaggery that is made here. The auctions that are held in the APMC premises are dominated by Gujarati traders.

Sugarcane is the main crop in Mudhol, Jamakhandi and Bilagi taluks of Bagalkot district. The district has as many as ten sugar factories.

The small town is dotted with several jaggery-making units, which have provided a means of livelihood for several families. Such units are plenty in other villages such as Chimmada and Hosoor in the vicinity.

Mahalinga Bhushannavar has set up a jaggery-making unit near the APMC at Mahalingapura. He makes ten quintals of jaggery every day. His unit is constructed in the middle of a four-acre sugarcane plot. Jaggery-making is his sole business. There are several such people in the region.

Jaggery that has a lighter shade fetches a higher price. The browner, darker version has a greater demand within North Karnataka, according Basappa Gopale, who is a trader.

A jaggery park
Sugarcane growers and traders in the region believe that a jaggery park should be set up here, in order to enhance jaggery production in Mahalingapura.  The Agriculture University has already decided to set up a jaggery park in Mundhol. A foundation stone for the park has also been laid.

At least 90 per cent of the cane grown in the region is used for making jaggery. Farmers in and around Mudhol send their cane produce to the sugar factories, which is why Mahalingapura is ideal for a jaggery park, feels trader Basanna Vajramatti.

The major competition posed to the jaggery business in Mahalingapur is by Maharashtra’s Sangli APMC.

“Farmers from Jamkhandi, Raibag and Gokak taluks bring their jaggery to Mahalingapura, where it is traded. If the prices fall by a notch, they then transport their jaggery to the Sangli market,” explains Mahalingapura Market Committee Secretary M A Peerzade.