28 April
ROWS of toddy palm trees or toddy forests are a symbol of the beauty and serenity of the rural life of Anyar (Upper Myanmar). Kyaukpadaung, a town close to the Mt. Popa and Bagan, has offered travel-lers to Bagan a stop over to enjoy food made from toddy.
There are over 417,200 toddy-palm trees on 4,127 acres in Kyaukpadaung Township. Of these, over 250,000 trees can produce sap for drinking and making jaggery.
Palm trees have a lifespan of 150 to 200 years, with their average height being 60 to 80 feet. Starting from the age of 20, a today-palm can produce sap and fruits.
According to statistics from 20 years ago, there were over 7,100 farmers and their families relying on the tod-dy-palm trees for their livelihoods.
The hard work and less lucrative business has resulted in declining number of toddy farmers, reaching just about 1,200 in the town today.
Why? A whole family of toddy farmers had to work for eight months per year. That means they had no jobs in the rainy season.
Due to their hand-to-mouth lives, the older generation was not willing to pass down their family business to their next generation. This situation has resulted in decreasing the number of toddy-palm farmers, reaching just 1,200 today.
Today, toddy palm wood is used as a substitute for other hardwoods and bamboo. Toddy palm wood is used in restaurants, tea shops and hotels, and also in village houses to erect posts, beams and bars, as a substi-tute for other hardwood. Even 70-year-old palm trees are felled for this purpose.
We should find ways to improve the lives of rural folk so that we can save palm trees. (Translated by Nat Ye Hla)
