28

Principes,36(l), 1992, pp. 28-33

P R I N C I P E S [Vor 36

Tapping Patterns of the Kitul Palm(Caryota urens) in the Sinharaja

Area, Sri Lanka

Noelt DE ZoYSADepartment of Botany, Uninersity of Perad'eniya, Sri Lanka

Palms are perhaps the most beneficialofplants to people in the Tropics. A typicalexample is the familiar kitulpalm(Caryotaurens L.) native to humid Tropical Asia.In Sri Lanka it is best known for the pro-duction of jaggery (a crude brown sugar)and treacle. Both are traditional sweet-eners, and their usage and popularity areisland-wide. At the village level it is ofeconomic importance, especially for com-munities living along forest fringes, pro-viding a significant source of income to thepeople.

The sugar sap from the inflorescencewhich yields j aggery,is converted to toddy,a weak alcoholic beverage, and then tovinegar on fermentation. The palm alsohas several other well known uses. Thewood is strong and beautiful. The innertissue of the stem yields a starchy sub-stance which can be used as sago. Theleaves yield o'salopa" or o'kitul" fiber as itis popularly known in Orissa and is obvi-ously the origin of the currently used Sin-hala term. Also the word "jaggery" ^uyhave originated from oochakkaray'o as it iscalled in Travancore (Sawyer 1895). Theuses of the palm are most comprehensivelydocumented by Watt (1889) in the Dic-tionary of Economic Products of India,while the palm is discussed in a more SriLankan context by Molagoda (1945).

The Kitul Palm

The handsome kitul palm attains 40 to60 feet ( I 5 to 20 m) in height under favor-

able conditions. Its large bipinnate leavesreach as much as 6-7 m in length. Theultimate leaflets are very characteristic,shaped somewhat like the tail of a fish,thereby earning the popular English name,the "Fish-Tail palm" (Trimen, 1898).

The kitul palm grows wild in the lowcountry wet-zone of Sri Lanka and is acomponent of the rain forest understorey.It is found more often in cool shady valleys.Because of its utility value, it is commonlyfound growing in home gardens, but rarelyis it cultivated.

. KitulTapping in Sinharaia

In the Sinharaja area, where the onlysizeable extent of lowland rain forest stillremains in Sri Lanka, the villagers wholive in and around the forest depend greatlyon the production and sale of jaggery fortheir livelihood. As in most palms, in kitultoo, the sugar sap is extracted from theyoung inflorescence. The method and pro-cess of extraction vary in detail from placeto place. The tapping patterns, evolvedthrough many centuries of practice, areoften associated with a great deal of customand ritual. In relatively undisturbed forestareas such as Sinharaja, one could expectthe practice of tapping the kitul palm tohave changed little with time, the originalmethods being still preserved to a greatextent.

Rapid destruction of natural forests usu-ally brings about the disintegration of tra-ditional communities. It is therefore impor-

re92l

tant that where these traditions sti l lcontinue, an attempt be made to documentthe numerous uses made of forest productsby the villagers. These uses are steeped intradition and culture; often based on soundecological principles realized throughknowledge and experience accrued throughtime.'

The Process of Tapping

Flouering. It is believed that a kitulpalm growing in a relatively open area willbloom within a period of l0 to 15 years.However, when growing within the forest,it takes much longer, perhaps up to 15 to20 years, to bloom, depending on theopportunity the palm has of reaching outto the sun. An experienced tapper is ableto recognize a palm which is about to bloomfrom the gradually changing crown form.On reaching maturity, the palm has a char-acteristic crown of l0-20 loosely arrangedleaves, the mature fronds being horizontal.The younger ones are directed obliquelyupwards until the last leaves stand erect.

Once in bloom, it produces several inflo-rescences for a period ofthree to five years.The flowering is in reverse order, the firstinflorescence appearing at the terminalregion of the palm and subsequent onesappearing in successively lower leaf axils.Inflorescences also develop on the barestem beneath the crown from buds in theaxils of leaves shed previously. After thelowest inflorescence has matured into fruits,the tree dies. The mature inflorescence is3 to 4 m long, much branched with a stoutpeduncle and numerous pendulousbranches, The peduncle curves down-wards, and the inflorescence hangs clearof the leaf bases. Usually the first inflo-rescence is the largest and those devel-oping later progressively smaller in size.

Preparation of the Palm. Once it hasbeen decided to tap the emerging inflores-cence, a ladder is improvised to enableclimbing up the trunk of the palm. Thisprocess is known in Sinhalese as oohera

gesima" (Fig. la). The ladder consists of

DE ZOYSA: KITUL TAPPING

a tall staff placed against the palm andbound with woody climbers at regularintervals of about 1.5 ft (0.5 m) to serveas footholds (fig. 2). In some cases a crudeplatform is constructed just below the inflo-rescence.

The wood used for the staff is one thatis resistant to decay, that can be rapid ina constantly, humid environment with highmicrobial activity. The species favored areChaetocar pus castanoco.rpus, C. corirtce-us ("Hedawaka"), Timonius jambosella(ooAngana"), Nargedia macrocarpa ("W alkopi"). The most commonly used speciesof woody climber for the footholds isl{epenthes disti l latoria ("Bandura"),however, others such as Artabotrys zey-lanicus ("Pattikka"), Cissus acuminatus("Mala labu") and the forest |:amboo Och-landra stridula ("Bata") are also used assubstitutes.

Preparation of Inf.orescence. When theinflorescence has emerged sufficiently(about 3 ft) just prior to unfolding, it issupported by means of a 4 to 5 ft longpole forked at the top (Fig. lb) and maneu-vered into a horizontal position for con-veniehce of tapping. The shape of the inflo-rescence indicates its maturity; cone shapedwhen immature but acquiring an invertedcrescent shape at maturity. The inflores-cence by this time has reached its maxi-mum length and is on the verge of unfold-irg.

The inflorescence is next subject to aprocess of stimulation-more precisely, aprocess by which growth is arrested, butnot totally prevented. Firstly the enclosingbracts are removed. The peduncle is bruisedgently by tapping with a small stone or thehandle of the tapper's knife. Applied tothe bruised area is a paste of a groundmixture of Pogostemon heyneanus ("kol-Ian kola") leaves, slaked lime, lamp blackand other additives such as salt, garlic,mustard, lime and young leaves of Tod-dal ia as iat lca ( "Kudumir issa") andN e p enthe s di s tillato r ia ("Bandura").

The treated inflorescence is bound alone

30 P R I N C I P E S lvor. 36

l. a, Palm prepared for climbing, bound at regular intervals which serve as foot holds. b, A forked pole is

used to support the inflorescence prior to unfolding and to attach the pot for collecting sap. c, Pot used for

collecting sap. d, Pan used for boiling down the sap. e, Rattan strainer for cleaning the sugar syrup of debris.

( b )

v( d )

( a )

r9921 DE ZOYSA: KITUL TAPPING 3 I

its length with cord made from woodyclimbers (Fig. Ib) and left exposed for acouple of days. If the weather is dry theinflorescence is shaded using a bract fromthe Areca nut palm (Areca catechu),leavesof Agrostistachys hookeri ("Maha beru")or Cosciniurn fenestratum ("Weni wel").Of late polythene is increasingly used.

The main inflorescence axis yields thegreatest amount of sap. All lateral branchesand spikes are therefore trimmed beforebinding it along its length. The terminalend of the main axis is gradually sliced offwith a very sharp knife. The exuding sapis collected in a vessel, this process beingcarried out twice a day for a period ofabout two months.

Preparation of the VesseL The vessel

used for collecting the exudate is often aclay pot previously used for cooking andtherefore well seasoned. The inner surfaceof the pot is made waterproof by coatingwith melted resin. The resin is extractedfrorn Canariunt zeylanicurn ("Kekuna")and, Shorea stipularis ("Nawada").

The pot is supported by a handle madewith cord woven from woody climbers (Fig.Ic), such as Nepenthes distillatoria orCalamus digitatus ("Kukulu wel"). Thepositioning of the pot is shown in Fig. Ib.It is generally hung on the fork of the polethat supports the inflorescence.

To prevent fermentation of the sap, astrip of bark about l" in length and.Vz" itwidth of Shorea stipularis is put in to thepot. Other bark substitutes used are Vateriacoppalifera ("Hal"), Vatica chinensis(ooMendora").

Tapping Operation. The pot full of sapis removed twice a day, usually at 6 amand 4 pm. A thin slice is cut off the endof the inflorescence axis each time a col-lection is made and replaced with a freshpot. A razor-sharp knife is used for slicingoff the inflorescence and it is carried in asheath attached to a waist band worn bythe tapper. When climbing up or down thetrunk of the palm the pot is hung on theknife handle at the waist of the tapper.

The Production oflaggery. The sap isfirst strained into a large vessel (Fig. ld)through a strainer made of woven rattanor bamboo strips (Fig. le). The sap is thenimmediately placed on the fire. After fiveto six hours of boiling when the liquid formsfroth it can be removed from the fire andthe sap can be kept for several hours with-out fermenting. On further boiling the sapthickens to a syrup and needs to be stirredconstantly; at a suitable consistency it istaken off the fire.

The thick syrup is poured into pre-cleaned coconut shells rinsed in cold water,and left to solidify (Fig. 3). A pinch ofslaked lime is added to induce crystallization. The solid sugar or jaggery is gentlyprized out of the coconut shells and wrapped

2. Caryota urens wilh ladder and tapper.

32

in dried banana leaf ready to be marketed.

The residue left at the bottom of the pan

is scraped out and made into balls for use

as a domestic sweetener.

Future Prospects

It is evident from recent scientific stud-ies on palms that they require precise envi-ronmental conditions for germination andestablishment; often regeneration is limitedor virtually absent (Moore 1979). Over-utilization by man has severely affectedthe process ofnatural regeneration. Recentinvestigations on the floristics of the Sin-haraja forest have revealed that matureindividuals are very rare in their naturalhabitat (Gunatilleke and Gunatilleke t9B7).

[Vor. 36

It is also known that fruit bats, pole cats,and palm civets (Viverridae) aid in thedispersal and germination of the kitul seed.Whether any specialized relationships existbetween the palm and its dispersal agentsis not known.

The increasing demand for kitul prod-ucts may perhaps one day result in theelimination of this species in the wild. Thetradition of allowing the first inflorescenceto mature and seed is now gradually dis-appearing, with severe consequences onregeneration. In the interests ofpreservingthe species efforts must be made to studyits biology and propagation. As an imme-diate conservation measure, adequate nat-ural habitats should be protected to con-serve wild populations of the palm. The

P R I N C I P E S

3. Syrup is poured into cleaned coconut shells

r9921

scientific basis of prevalent customs, rit-uals, and methods should be investigatedfor exploiting the resource more efficiently.The popularization of the kitul palm forhome garden systems and mixed planta-tions should be vigorously pursued.

Acknowledgments

My thanks are due to Prof. M. D. Das-sanayake and Profs. Nimal and SavitriGunatilleke of the Department of Botany,University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka fortheir comments on the script. This articlewas compiled n 1982 while working on aresearch project in Sinharaja. Since l9B5the Dept. of Botany has been engaged indetailed studies on the reproductive biologyof the palm. My grateful thanks to thevillagers of Sinharaja who spent their timeexplaining and demonstrating the tappingprocess, and helping me to see the palm

DE ZOYSA: KITUL TAPPING

through their eyes. Photographs were pro-vided by Vimukthi Weeratunga.

LneneruRn CIrnn

GUNATTLLEKE, C. V. S. AND Gunerlr-lnrn, I. A. U.N. 1987. Rare woody species ofthe Sinharajarain forest in Sri Lanka. In: A. I. G. H. Kos-termans (ed.). Proc. of the third round tableconference on Dipterocarps. UNESCO (ROS-

TEA) Jakarta, pp. 495-5I8.MoLAGoDA, T. W. 1945. The kitul palm. Tropical

Agriculturist, Peradeniya, Colombo Vol. 101,on . 25 I -259 .

nnooni, Jn. H.E. 1979. Endangerment at specificand generic level of palms. Principes 23(2): 47-o4.

SAwYER, A. M. 1895. System of tapping the Car-yota urens ior toddy in Travancore. Indian For-ester 2I(4) : I34-138.

TRIMEN, H. 1898. A handbook to the flora o{Ceylon. Vol. 4. London, Dulau & Co.

Warr, G. 1889. A dictionary economic productsof India. Vol. 2. Calcutta. Reprint 1972 JeyyedPress, Delhi.

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