Sweet Tidings: The Journey From Sugarcane Fields to Traditional Jaggery-Making

While India is the biggest producer of sugar in the world, its staggering dometic demand makes it the second biggest exporter. The states of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra contribute the lion’s share when it comes to state-wise production. Gaon Connection traces the visual journey of sugarcane which is processed into jaggery at thousands of rudimentary factories spread across the sugarcane belt in western Uttar Pradesh.

Sugarcane production and processing is a vital source industry in Uttar Pradesh, especially in the western districts. According to the Sugar Industry & Cane Development Department of the state government, a total of 120 sugar mills operated in the state during the crushing season of 2021-22. The total sugarcane area in Uttar Pradesh is 276,000 hectares and sugarcane productivity is 823 quintals [100 kilogrammes] per hectare.

In this photo essay, Gaon Connection traces the journey of the sugarcane from the fields to the bhattas — the rudimentary factories which process the cane syrup into jaggery which is eventually refined into sugar.

The cultivation and harvesting of sugarcane involves an abundance of labour by women — which is hugely undervalued not only socially but also economically. A woman’s labour fetches lower wages than men’s despite the two genders performing the same task for the same duration.

Following the harvesting of the sugarcane, the harvest is timely transported to the bhattas or the small jaggery-making factories. The farmers try to transport it at the earliest as the loss in moisture content is detrimental. The loss of moisture affects the quantity of the extracted juice which results in the harvest getting lower market price at the bhatta.

The urgency to transport harvest is such that farmers use any means at disposal, often using bullock carts or even buffalo-carts. The farmers brave frigid temperatures and sights of shawl-wrapped farmers transporting their sugarcane harvest are a common sight on the highways of western Uttar Pradesh during January-March.

Scene of a juice extracting machine at a bhatta. Upon reaching the bhatta, the sugarcane harvest is weighed and prices are negotiated. The sugarcane is timely sent to crushers to extract the cane juice which is then processed to make jaggery.

The extracted cane juice is then boiled in giant boilers which convert the juice into a hot, semi-fluid syrup.

The fuel for heating these boilers comes from the sugarcane husk which is found in abundance in the sugarcane fields.

When the desired colour and viscosity of the syrup is achieved, it is extracted out of the boilers and spread evenly on giant disks where it is allowed to cool.

When the syrup is cool enough to touch with bare hands, workers start pouring it into smaller vessels. The jaggery as we know it, is ready. All that’s left is to shape it in the form of laddoos.

The jaggery balls are packed and are ready for supplying it to the wholesale markets.

Jaggery is a natural sweetener and is an effective way to boost immunity, regulate body temperature, enrich the skin, improve digestion and also cure joint pain.

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