But
the season is nearing its end quite early this year, as the yield from
palm trees has come down heavily because of scant rain last year.
The number of persons selling ‘pathanir’ alongside the roads have came down too.
Medicinal value
The drink having medicinal value is usually collected twice a day.
It
is used for making jaggery too. “Palm trees have very high drought
resistance. But the neera yield is affected when rainfall dips,” said V.
Vijayalakshmi, Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Palm Products
Development Board.
She said that Krishnagiri
district has more than two lakh palm trees. Mathur, Pochampalli,
Eechanngadu, Muttapatti, Kalarpathi, Kodipathi, Madhampatti, and
Chanipathi have a thick concentration of palm trees.
“There
are about one lakh trees in Salem district. There is a thick population
of these trees at Thanavathiyur, Vanavasi, Tharamangalam, and
Periyampatti,” Ms. Vijayalakshmi said and added that not all the trees
are used for tapping palm nectar.
She said that male palm trees begin yielding neera during the early days of the season — from mid January to February.
“They
yield about 10 litres to 15 litres a day. The female trees begin
yielding when the yield of male trees starts dropping. But the female
trees yield 20 litres to 25 litres a tree a day and for a longer
period,” she said.
This year the yield has dropped by
50 per cent and has badly affected the livelihood of people who depend
on it for a living,” she added.
