Keonjhar: Myriads of traditional pithas (cakes) like ‘Chakuli’ and ‘Enduri’ with delicious liquid molasses (made of sugarcane) are synonymous with ‘Prathamastami’ in various parts of this district.
As per traditional practice, people relish the savory cakes along with liquid molasses as a side dish and offer the delight to guests, neighbours and friends on this auspicious occasion.
The Belabahali area under Anandapur sub-division in this district is famous for its good quality liquid molasses.
With just a week for Prathamastami, one of the celebrated festivals in the State, people from every corner are coming to buy the good quality liquid molasses from Belabahali. Molasses being sold in blacked earthen pots on the main road of Belabahali is a common sight every year just ahead of Prathamastami.
Despite its high demand, the lack of proper marketing platform has hit sugarcane farmers who are reeling under severe loss and poor financial conditions. The sugarcane farmers ascribe their distress to the apathy of the government. However, lack of awareness about the importance of molasses is also a hindrance in their growth.
According to reports, the kind of soil and climate at Belabahali is suitable for sugarcane and jute. Most families of the area depend on sugarcane farming. Their earning comes mostly from selling liquid molasses which is sold round the year.
However, the fertility of the land here has considerably decreased after 1999 super cyclone as the topsoil of their farmlands were left covered with layers of sand. This has affected the production, farmers alleged.
“We cannot grow as much sugarcane as we used to do before the super cyclone because we no longer have the fertility of our lands,” says Prafulla Ghadei, a molasses trader adding that the decrease in harvest has affected their earnings and made it hard for them for run the errands of the family.
Lack of sugar mill has further compounded their woes. However, the agriculture being an age-old practice, farmers have not given up on the cultivation.
The sugarcanes are crushed to extract its juice. Then the juice is cooked manually to get liquid molasses.
“Extracting juice from sugarcanes and cooking it to get molasses is becoming expensive these days. Whenever we try to hike the price of liquid molasses to have little or no profit over the expenditure we incur starting from cultivation to cooking, we have no buyer willing to give the quoted price hence we are forced to sell at a lower price”, share some molasses traders.
The farmers are continuously incurring loss, while some of them have already deserted the molasses business; their children are no longer interested to carry on it.
When asked, what made him travel all the way from Keonjhar district headquarters to Belabahali, a retired central government employee Alekh Chandra Patra, who was buying liquid molasses, said the liquid molasses prepared from sugarcanes here at Belabahali sans any chemical is a good combination with ‘Prathamastami’ pithas.
Regarding the present trend of farmers turning their faces from sugarcane cultivation and molasses business, retired Bank officer Bharat Candra patra said, “Belabahali’s liquid molasses is in demand all across the state. But the way the demand should be cashed on, is missing.”
Regarding the farmers of Telkoi and Belbahali area who are giving up sugarcane farming for good due to elephant menace and lack of encouragement, educationist Ramesh Chandra Hota believes assistance to these farmers id the only way to make a difference.
PNN
