Toddy palms (Borussus flabellifer) are in sharp decline, a trend that’s affecting the production of the confectionary known as jaggery as well as the illegal tipple popular in rural areas. The toddy palm is found throughout Southeast Asia and the Subcontinent, where it is used for wine and a sugar product known as jaggery. There are many references to the palms, toddy wine and jaggery in Myanmar art and culture.
However, the trees are under threat in central Myanmar as increasing numbers are being chopped down, mainly because they are no longer generating income. It has found that the number of toddy palms declined by an estimated 50 percent between 2012 and this year, to about five million trees.
Toddy palm fronds are used to make roofing and the wood can be used for furniture, but the biggest effect of the decline has been on the production of jaggery, a traditional sweet in Myanmar that was once the main income earner for plantation owners. Deforestation has affected production because of a shortage of firewood. Toddy farmers say the cost of firewood is higher than the market price of the jaggery.
Toddy palm farmers who have no choice but to clear their plantations can expect to receive between K15,000 and K25,000 for trees that have taken up to 40 years to grow.
Read more at https://frontiermyanmar.net/en/middle-myanmars-vanishing-toddy-palms