Excelsior Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, Feb 27: In an era dominated by mechanised production and refined sugar, 65-year-old Puran Singh of Kambal Danga Village continues to uphold a 250-year-old family legacy of producing pure, organic jaggery (gud) using traditional oxen-driven crushers.
For the past four decades, Puran Singh has been engaged in making jaggery the age-old way, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
“I’ve been doing this work for 40 years. My father, grandfather and great-grandfather also did this work. After leaving school, I started making jaggery,” he said.
A sugarcane farmer by profession, Singh cultivates his own crop and processes it into jaggery without the use of chemicals or adulterants. The traditional method involves crushing sugarcane with the help of oxen, extracting the juice and boiling it in large iron pans over a wood-fired furnace until it thickens and solidifies into golden-brown jaggery.
“This is 100 per cent organic jaggery. We don’t use any adulteration,” Singh asserted, highlighting the purity of his product. On average, he produces around 20 to 25 kilograms of jaggery daily, depending on the availability of sugarcane and weather conditions.
Despite the physically demanding nature of the work, Singh continues with unwavering dedication. “It takes a lot of hard work, and the money is less. There’s no other work, no job, so we survive on this work,” he said, underlining the financial challenges faced by small-scale traditional producers.
However, he noted that the demand for locally produced jaggery remains high. Villagers prefer his product for its natural taste, quality and health benefits. “People in the village come to buy jaggery. The demand for local jaggery is very high,” he added.
Puran Singh’s hard work not only sustains his family but also keeps alive a centuries-old rural craft that symbolises self-reliance and organic farming practices.
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