Palmyrah products are among the main sources of income in the north. Palmyrah or Panei are synonymous for a same thing. Sinhalese use it as Thal and Tamils use it as Panei to identify the Palmyrah tree. The scientific name of the tree is Borassus Fabelliformis.

It yields a variety of food and beverages, handicrafts, timber productions and buffer for soil erosion. The Palmyrah tree is a highly valuable resource for the people specially in the northern peninsula. In Tamil culture Palmyrah is considered as ‘Karpaha’ because the each part of the tree has high economical value. According to the Palmyrah Development Board, in an area of 70,000 hectares in 11 districts, there were 11 million Palmyrah trees. There are around a million palmyrah trees scattered across the land in and around towns such as Trincomalee, Puttalam and Hambantota.

Unfortunately however within the past 30 years, four million trees have been destroyed by the war. D.G.K Wahalathantri, Marketing Manager of the Palmyrah Development Board says that they have started to re-cultivate the trees and revive the industry. Under the Mahinda Chinthana it is expected to increase the number of palms to 16 million by 2016. Among the strategies proposed are organizing community based awareness to reduce the felling of Palmyrah trees, develop private nurseries and allow for replanting or new planting through community participation.

The Mahinda Chintana strongly emphasises on the need to promote Palmyrah-based products such as fruits, fibre, leaf, timber and rubber to be popularized through promotional mechanism.

The Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Ministry has drawn the attention of the district and divisional authorities to strictly implement the gazette notification to prevent the cutting of Palmyrah trees. Permission to cut Palmyrah trees is granted through the Divisional Secretariat in close consultation with the Palmyrah Development Board.

In the northern and eastern regions, a considerable percentage of the population depends on this tree. Jaggery, Sookiri, pulp, syrup, cordial, toddy, jam, oil and toffee (called as pannaddu) are some of the products of the Palmyrah tree. Sweet toddy can be tapped from trees between February to June while jaggery and sugar candy are also products of the tree during this period. The next season is the fruit season, mainly pulp fruits. In October it’s the ‘Kotta Kilangu Season’. Palmyrah leaves and other small parts are used to make handicrafts such as baskets, trays, mats, hats, wall hangings and rugs and so on.

Palmyrah pulp is also exported to countries such as the US, Canada, Germany and Australia. The Palmyrah Development Board is facilitating the search for foreign market opportunities. The board is under the control of the Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Ministry whose minister Douglas Devananda has identified the Palmyrah sector as a livelihood support and poverty reduction source. The ministry expects to accelerate the development work of Palmyrah.
Accordingly permission for cutting Palmyrah trees is granted through the Divisional Secretary in close consultation with the Palmyrah Development Board. The board already has planned three model farms in Vavuniya (50 acres), Hambantota (22 acres) and Jaffna (50 acres) with new planting, replanting, spacing and intercropping. The board is also conducting a training programme for handicraft products.

The board already has 13 Katpaham sales centres island-wide. All Palmyrah products and handicrafts can be purchased from these centres in various districts. It is also proposed to open another three centres in Colombo, Kandy and Puttalam districts. Moreover, the board with the support of the National Engineering Research and Development Centre (NERD) has taken action to introduce Palmyrah pulp extraction machines to extract pulp from the Palmyrah fruits.

A newly developed pulp extraction machine was pilot tested in Kalpitiya, Puttalam in August 2010. This extraction machine will contribute significantly to increase the pulp production from the current 4000 litres to at least 10,000 litres. From the pulp production it is possible to produce locally many value added products such as soft drinks, jam, pannatu and also export bottled pulp.

There is a popular saying in Northern region specially in Jaffna that “if you grow eight Palmyrah trees, one family is secured”. If there are 16 million Palmyrah trees by 2016, two million families will be economically benefited, a large percentage considering Sri Lanka’s total population. Accordingly the Palmyrah tree has already become a part of the life of northerners specially those in Jaffna.

Further, it is not enough to increase only production without creating markets for them. Therefore creating local and foreign markets as well as promoting Palmyrah products are one of the main responsibilities of the relevant authorities for the smooth flow of this industry.