PALAKKAD : The ‘spirit’ is waning as the mercury rises. Daily toddy production in Palakkad’s Chittur — the toddy hub of the state — is plummeting. A coconut palm that used to generate an average of 2 to 2.5 litres of toddy daily is now yielding just 1-1.5 litres, say tappers, who attribute the sharp decline to the heatwave conditions prevailing in the state.
“From the nearly 30-odd litres that we got from 12 trees daily, output has dropped to around 18-20 litres. The decline will be severe by mid-April, when production can slip to half as litre per tree. Since our farm is located close to the river, it won’t affect us in a big way, but there are large numbers of farms where water scarcity is a big issue. Production in these areas will come to a grinding halt during the summer,” says G Marimuthu, a tapper who was also president of Perumatty grama panchayat in 2015.
After hovering around 39 degrees Celsius over the last several days, the mercury touched 41°C in Palakkad on Thursday.
The excise department permit allows for transportation of 2.05 lakh litres of toddy daily from Chittur. However, only an average of 1.4 lakh litres have passed through the checkpoints at Parali and Alathur every day in the last week.
“Shortage of toddy is an issue during peak summer. This is now very visible. In areas such as Meenakshipuram and Kollengode, shops are facing a shortage. We used to sell nearly 80 litres of coconut toddy every day at each of our shops, but we now get just around 60 litres from tappers,” says Premam V V, a manager of five toddy shops in Alathur.
Some shop licensees add that demand for toddy is declining due to the availability of foreign liquor and synthetic drugs. According to Madhu C, district secretary of the Hind Mazdoor Sabha, one of the largest trade union federations in the country, foreign liquor has hurt the demand for toddy. “Some of the licensees have a permit for 1,300 litres daily, but they are now only able to sell around 800 litres. Moreover, youngsters are shunning toddy shops. Only the elderly still consume toddy from shops. Youngsters nowadays come to enjoy the food,” said Madhu.
Meanwhile, the department said the drive to check for adulteration of toddy has been intensified in the district and other areas.
“It would be difficult to meet the daily toddy needs in the summer. So, in order to avoid adulteration, we have intensified inspections at each point. We have mobile units to check the quality of toddy. Stringent action would be adopted if anyone is found to be selling adulterated toddy,” said Robert V, deputy excise commissioner, Palakkad.
Tappers’ woes
2-2.5 Litres is the average daily yield of toddy from a coconut palm. It has dipped to 1-1.5 litres per day due to heatwave conditions
The decline will be severe by mid-April, when production can slip to half as litre per tree.