PHYSICO-CHEMICAL STUDIES ON SUGARCANE JAGGERY

Jaggery is the most important of the products manufactured from sugarcane in India. The consumption of jaggery is about 2 to 2'5 times that of the total white sugar, the latter com- prising of all that is (i) imported, (ii) manufactured in the local facto- ries and (iii) produced by the indigenous 'bel' method. This proves the still greater hold of the cottage industry of jaggery manufacture. Jaggery is used for direct home consumption, and for the manu- facture of refined sugar. On an average about 2'5 to 3 millions tons of jaggery are used for direct consumption and about 1 to 2 lakhs of tons for refining. But according to the Report of the Indian Tariff Board on Sugar Industry (1931), the return from 100 maunds of cane manu- factured into gur (jaggery) and then refined is not more than 5'5 maunds as against 9 maunds obtained by direct manufacture from cane, while the amount of the molasses produced is approximately the same per unit of cane in each case.