MARDAN: The sugarcane growers living in the proximity of Rashakai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), are optimistic that with the latest Chinese agricultural machinery and with the establishment of SEZ, they can export different products of Jaggery (Gur) to international markets in the near future.
Jaggery, locally known as Gur, is a sweetener made from sugarcane that is unrefined and produced without filtering molasses.
The districts of Mardan, Charsadda and Swabi are amongst the main sugarcane growing districts of KP. The Rashakai SEZ is located at the center of these sugarcane growing districts, which is one of the main crops the local farmers grow. The growers either produce Gur while exercising the labor-intensive traditional methods or sell the sugarcane to mills for sugar (white) productions.
The sugarcanes are crushed in crunchers run by generators; after extracting, the juice is collected and boiled. The concentrated liquid is allowed to cool in a big bowl made of clay; as the concentrated syrup solidifies, it is converted into lumps via hands.
The sugarcane growers use decade-old methods to obtain jaggery, which not only are labor-intensive but also result in pre-and-post labor losses. However, the use of the latest machinery can change the whole scenario. “Jaggery in KP has immense export potential; however, farmers must be equipped with advanced technologies for agriculture,” Irfan Khattak, a sugarcane grower, told. -Agencies
