Tappers reiterate demand to repeal ban on toddy

VELLORE: The Tamil Nadu Toddy Movement has reiterated its demand for the withdrawal of  the ban on tapping toddy in the State. This was informed by S Nallasamy, state coordinator of the movement who was here as part of a statewide awareness campaign tour undertaken by the members of the movement from Kanyakumari to Chennai. The campaign began on January 21. The movement has made a plea to CM Jayalalithaa to explore the possibilities of introducing toddy in the State.Nallasamy said that while the State should work towards enforcing total prohibition as an ultimate welfare measure for the people of this State, until such an eventuality, the tapping and marketing of toddy through St-ate-run TASMAC outlets should be allowed. He suggested that TASMAC could market toddy and many of its value-added products, not just in the State and across the country, but also export it to other countries and bring in foreign exchange.Nallasamy said that the traditional methods of tapping toddy has shortcomings. “It had to be done on a daily basis with toddy tappers removing portions of the flower. A container is fastened to the flower stump to collect the sap. The liquid that initially collects is sweet and non-alcoholic before it is fermented. But with recent advances, we can overc-ome these shortcomings,” he added.Quoting an expert — Henry Louis of Nagercoil, who has researched the toddy tapping — Nallasamy said that quality toddy could be tapped from coconut and palm trees in a clean and scientific manner. Toddy can be drained using an air tight micro tube fixed on top of the tree once in three days.Pasteurisation of toddy using Y23 yeast variety would help in preservation and bottling of toddy with an improved shelf life of up to two years, he said. Countries like Sri Lanka use this technology to produce high quality toddy, which contains just 4.5 per cent alcohol as against liquors sold in  TASMAC shops, which contain 42 per cent alcohol, he added.In order to promote the traditional village industry, the State should market palm sugar and jaggery as an alternative to the white sugar sourced from sugarcane. Instead of producing sugar, mills in the country could extract ethanol, which could be used as fuel for transport vehicles. A study conducted in Brazil pointed out that vehicles run on ethanol mixed petrol had brought down the cost of transportation and pollution levels to a great extent. While this would motivate the farming community here to focus on cultivation of sugarcane, coconut, palm and dates, it will also help reduce the import of petroleum products, thus giving rural economy a boost, Nallasamy pointed out.