The Hindu Business Line : AP jaggery traders suspend purchases

JAGGERY traders in Andhra Pradesh have suspended purchases of black jaggery in protest against "harassment'' by the State Excise Department on the ground that the product was being used as one of the ingredients to make illicit liquor.

With the stoppage of transactions by the traders, farmers in the major jaggery market of Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district, the country's second biggest, have stopped bringing black jaggery.

Traders expect farmers to mount pressure on the State Government to permit purchase and sale of black jaggery.

They have been arguing that although black jaggery could be used for making illicit liquor, the product has other applications in varied sectors. They have also pointed out that sugarcane left over after manufacturing sugar is being used by farmers to prepare jaggery, with the colour of jaggery depending on the seed, soil, rainfall, fertilisers and other factors.

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