MARGAO: The exuberance with which 85-year-old Chandru Velip from Netravali leads the village in the traditional jaggery-making exercise belies his age. That can be attributed to the fact that he, like several of his fellow villagers, has been engaged in the activity since his teenage years. He has learnt the tricks of the trade from his father, skills that have been handed down through generations.
Coinciding with the sugarcane harvesting season, tribal communities in some parts of Goa get engaged in producing sugarcane jaggery which was once a thriving cottage industry. However, the traditional occupation is now struggling to survive.
