They can process one tonne of sugar daily from10 tonnes of sugar cane crushed. At Iskcon Farm, a very simple method of juicing the cane, and boiling up the juice turns the juice into jaggery.
Jaggery is made from the whole sugar juice, nothing is removed and all the nutrients that would normally be extracted into molasses are retained, making it a very healthful product.
- The juice runs from the crusher into 3in large 8 feet wok like iron pans,
- The juice runs from one to the next, with a fire underneath. 1 ½ litres Okra (Ladys Finger) juice is added to first pan, to pull major residue out. And to every 7-½ kg sugar juice, 100g lime is added, which also helps clarify syrup. The top of the syrup is cleared off as it cooks. 100g lime is for one pan which will contain juice crushed from 700 kilo of cane.
- Cook till 800C, to the softball stage. 100ml caster oil is added before scooping. The hot syrup is then scooped into large wooden trays. There it is pushed and pulled with paddles until it cools and becomes a soft powder. A bit like making fudge.
- Jaggery sugar is then packed into 250 g bags and sold through the stores in the major cities in India. This product is certified biodynamic and sold under a brand name.
- If it needs storage on site, it is packed into 25kg bags and the walls of the warehouse are sprayed monthly with Neem, Turmeric powder and Pungam oil to stop insect infestation.
They have analysed the Jaggery, which they call the whole sugar, and found that it is rich in so many salts, minerals and vitamins which is not found in white sugar. Research done in Europe and China and was found that if small children use whole sugar then they are less prone to dental decay and back bone problems.
By processing the sugar cane at the farm level we get all the bio mass back into our land, in the form of composting material. |
