Bengal's Joynagar date palm tappers adopt protective measures after Nipah alert
Times of India | 30 January 2026
KOLKATA: Although Nipah may not be the imminent danger for now, as a precautionary measure many shiuli (date palm tree tapper) involved in collecting date palm sap and jaggery making at Joynagar in South 24 Parganas tried to cover the earthen pots in different manners to get rid of bat infected sap.
Nur Alam Seikh (30), a popular shiuli who owned more than 400 date palm trees in Futigoda village of Joynagar block I, used discarded barks of date palm to cover the nol (pipe) and the earthen pot that was used to collect fresh sap. “I am a third generation shiluli and follow the traditional way of collecting date sap but after Nipah alert I started covering up the exposed area as much as we can,” said Sheikh, who on an average collected 250 litres of raw sap during the time.
There are more than 10,000 shiulis and associated workers involved in Joynagar Majilpur area, mostly concentrated at Chupijhara, Mayahauri, Hatchapri, Natunhat, Futigoda, Mayda, Baharu and Dakshin Barasat villages. “We are involved in spreading awareness and new protective methods during collecting the sap as part of our ongoing quality control measurements in the moa industry,” said Ashok Kayal, founder and secretary, Joynagar Moa Nirmankari Society.
Moa, a GI-tagged sweet delicacy of Joynagar, which is around Rs 30 crore season business, usually started from mid-November till end of February, where nolen-gur (liquid jaggery) is one of the key ingredients apart from Kanakchur khoi (aromatic popped rice), ghee, khoa and others. Also due to the consistent cold nights the quality and quantity of date sap was also higher this year compared to the last few years.
“There were many queries since last week after Nipah alert in the city and hardly people know the differences in date palm raw sap and processed liquid jaggery,” said Subodh Naskar, a shiuli of Baharu region who supplied nolen-gur and patali (solid date jaggery cubes) in Kolkata as well as in other states.
It was found popular moa sellers in Joynagar and Baharu areas did not want their business to be hampered during this peak on-going moa season. “I instructed all my shiulis who supply processed jaggery to make as much as they can to cover up the area during collection of the raw sap,” said Piyali Ghosh Maity, owner of popular Bunchki’s moa. Piyali, who is in the third generation in moa business, her grandfather Purnachandra Ghosh alias Bunchki babu is considered, along with Nitya Gopal Sarkar, the pioneers of Joynagar's moa, since 1929.
“Our moa business found a downward trend since there was a sudden Nipah alert, but luckily no more fresh cases was evolved and it is a good sign for us as we are expecting there will be a rise in demand again,” said Monilal Modak, an owner of winter delicacy sweets in Sealdah market. Though shiulis believed there was no such negative impact as such in their date palm jaggery business as usual after Makar Sankranti there has been a sharp dip in sales, every year.