Tamil Nadu Farmers are travelling to Hyderabad to sell palm jaggery

In his late 20s, Chinnaraj travels all the way from Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu to Hyderabad in his pickup truck carrying a load of palm jaggery (Nattu Karupatti).

He parks his vehicle at Yacharam on the Nagarjuna Sagar road and sells the jaggery at a price of Rs 340 a kilogram. The man is among a dozen or so farmers cum traders from different parts of Tamil Nadu, who visit the suburbs and sell the product that is slowly gaining



buyers.

Palm jaggery, known as Nattu Karupatti in Tamil, is a natural, unrefined sweetener made from the sap of palm trees such as the palmyra or date palm. Farmers collect the sap, boil it in large iron pots, and let it thicken until it solidifies into dark brown blocks.

“We have been visiting the city and its suburbs for the last two years and selling the product brought from Tamil Nadu. It is manufactured by palm tree farmers,” said Chinnaraj.