EVOLUTION AND STATUS OF KALAPAI INDUSTRIES IN MELUR

EVOLUTION AND STATUS OF KALAPAI INDUSTRIES IN MELUR

உழுதுண்டு வாழ்வாரே வாழ்வார்மற் றெல்லாம்

தொழுதுண்டு பின்செல் பவர்.

--  திருவள்ளுவர்

Translation:
Who ploughing eat their food, they truly live:
The rest to others bend subservient, eating what they give. 

                                                                                    -Rev. Dr. G. U. Pope

The ancient Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar had written ten golden letters about plough and agriculture.It was the first reference about agriculture and plough .especially in the Indian concept.Plough has got one of the remarkable statusof civilization. In ancient days we used only country plough for plugging in agriculture process using a pair of bulls, which was higher in weight and complex to handle due to successive ethnic riots, change was only thing which never changed in history, in accordance to that new iron ore plough (metal ore kalapai) was developed, this was to reduce the weight and to increase production without any alter in output of efficient country plough.  

Iron ore kalapai was rocket structure device endorsed with frame of wood or iron frame.It was first developed in the soil of Burma to increase the agricultural production and reduce the complexity of weight in country ploughs. Manufacturing Iron ore kalapai was carried as small scale industry business in Burma, with minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 people, as a house made business.

Till 1948 India was not aware about this new kalapai, our expertise in agriculture did not drawn interest over this new innovation in kalapai ,for we had already utilizing with higher volume of innovation in irrigation and  crops. For example, in ancient India we had 22 different types of paddy crops which has capability to grow inseawater, thousand three hundred feet height in Himalaya, dry water irrigation pattern and loose water irrigation. Pattern we had also different types of bull across the country which had incomparable potential in plugging and carrying goods, but new evolution in plough started in the year  1947 from idea conceived by Manicham Thevar.

Manicham Thevar(fig 1.1) , served in Indian national army as soldier and he was a freedom fighter during the British rule .He had made several journeys in the rosy thorn way for country’s freedom and  settled in Burma. There he seeded the idea of iron ore kalapai from rural areas of Burma villages .Later in the year 1948 he had planned to return to home land India to taste the juice of freedom .He was initially station at Pudukottai and thought of an idea to start the iron kalapai business in Tamil Nadu.

Fig 1.1 V.MANICHAM THEVAR

In Thirumayam (pudukottai district ) Manicham Thevar had started the iron ore kalapai  production as small business with help of his wife and son to produce ten numbers  of kalapai and carried to the nearest area of the delta district Thanjavur .In Thanjavur agriculture was one and only prominent business .But people refused to buy the kalapai because they had unbelievable belief in the country plough and bulls .ManichamThevar demonstrated the new iron ore kalapai and practical use in time consumption without any change in output plugging quality, then people understand about the modern kalapai device. Later he made same demonstration in different parts of delta district and throughout Tamil Nadu and reached the product to soil .

The farmers mindset changed ,their attitudes over modern kalapai was changed ,so demand raised slowly throughout Tamil Nadu.In early days he used to produce 10 to 20 pieces per week and sell it through direct marketing in credit basics by carrying the goods in head ,the demand reached maximum .He planned to start anindustry. In the year 1967 he started his own industry in melur by purchasing a small land by investing all the money he earned from selling kalapai and jewels of his wife.

He started his industry with unskilled employees from the neighbor villages namely Nondikovilpatti (3 km from Melur), Melavalavu,Vadukavanipattu near Melur. Manicham Thevar had trained the local village people in manufacturing of kalapai and its technique. Inmid-1970’s Manicham Thevar expanded his business to north and east part of the country. He made a silent revolution in the kalapai in the mid  1980’s throughout the country ,more than 95% of farmers had changed to modern kalapai from ancient kalapai(country plough) and it’s remarkable change in the agriculture evolution ,but on the other hand more than 60 kalapai industries were developed in Melur .All the new industries were started by the employees who had already worked underManicham Thevar’s firm(Bosch plough works ).

RAW MATERIALS

Fig1.2 RAW MATERIALS -CAST IRON AND CARBON COKE

The three major core material required for manufacturing kalapai are (fig 1.2) cast iron, carbon coke and lime stone or powder and some allied materials like firewood and used crude oil.

The casting used to produce kalapai was made from galvanized iron and. Manicham Thevar had carried the casting of modern kalapai from Burma in  1947 and this was the seed for this big revolution in agriculture .Later Manicham Thevar made own casting from his creativity. Today there are more than 15 types of kalapai casting available with kalapai manufacturers.

The cast iron used for manufacturing kalapai were sourced from old railway track, telephone lines and waste iron pieces. These were sourced from third party whole sale iron vendors and from some industry are directly rendering tender from BSNL for old used telephone postto cast iron.

The carbon cake ,which is the byproduct or waste from carbon and silicon separation process, the actual core is heated in furnace at 2500º ccarbon electrode is separated around 1300ºc silicon is separated and remaining in furnace is carbon coke, this carbon coke was used as catalyst for heating cast iron to convert in molten stage for fabrication.     

 Lime stones are collected from Pudukotai district and the surrounding areas, these lime stones are used for sedimentation of cast iron in furnace in molten lava state from carbon coke.

The used crude oil or waste engine oil is used to furnish over casting to avoid bondage between casting and molten lava pored for fabrication of kalapai, fire wood is used to heat the carbon coke for increase temperature.

PROCESS IN MANUFACTURING

            A specially designed furnace such as bell drum furnace (fig 1.3) and couple drum furnace. The bell drum furnace was nothing that single drum furnace ,which had single container and in which it was placed in the single stand and initially heated from bottom and it was large container ,In single turn heating they can produce more than twenty five kalapai .

Fig 1.3 BELL FURNACE

            The couple drum furnace (fig 1.4) which has two separate container and one is  closed and another one is open , this is used for instant heating and for small scale production up to fifteen kalapai in single turn and this is mainly employed in small scale less labour intensity industry.

            Initially furnace set up is arranged, the single drum place above stand .the carbon coke was loaded in the drum and then drum is heated from bottom using firewood or country coke till 400ºC and in that particular condition carbon coke is converted to molten stage and rapidly tends to increase in temperature and then catalyst carbon coke rapidly increases its temperature and around 1000ºC cast iron pieces were added to molten carbon coke and immediately cast iron converted in to molten cast iron lava and in that particular condition the lime stone or lime powder should be added over molten lave ,where molten lava is the mixture of cast iron and carbon coke .

Fig 1.4 COUPLE DRUM FURNACE

            The lime stone or powder added to molten lava around 1200ºC , this lime powder or stone reacted with molten lava and finally cast iron lava settled to bottom of the furnace .In the furnace the special arrangement made as hole and which was initially locked with mud .Mud lock removed and captured through special bucket and poured in casting ,which was already furnished with old engine oil . The casting(fig 1.5) was set constant for minimum of  one  minute , after that lock in casting is removed and cast iron kalapai was designed .

            The cast iron kalapai which is removed out from casting need to remain in room temperature for ten to twenty minutes for cooling purpose. Then it is painted with non-ferrous black paint and packed using paddy straws and disposed to the sales outlets.

KALAPAI SLAG

            The cast iron kalapai replaced ninety five percent of country plough to modern cast iron plough, the comparative advantage in modern plough over country plough is the weight of plough, where as modern cast iron plough is easy for bull to plough the land and one complexity in cast iron kalapai was,it will break suddenly if soil hardness and hence injuries on bull are reduced and ploughing rate are doubled comparatively with country plough .

            In the mid 1980 the total country requirement of kalapai was supplied from Melur ,the same business was tried in several part of country such as West Bengal and Gujarat but they failed to sustain in business because they are not able to run because complexity in unskilled employee in handling molten lava around 1000ºC and this lead them to the end in failure .

Fig 1.5 CASTING OF KALAPAI

            Kalapai industries has been slowly diminishing since 1990’s due to several reasons such as arrival of low budget tractors by foreign companies in globalization and in early 90’s there were more than 60 companies in Melur alone which involved in kalapai production but today there are only 5 companies are surviving in the  kalapai production.

            In the home state Tamil Nadu more than 90% of kalapai mode of plugging changed to tractor. Today they running their business for Orissa, West Bengal, Gujarat and then northern state of countries. The turnover has increased comparatively but piece production is decreasing day by day.

            Some of industries had their own outlet in several parts of the country for the delivery system; V.M.thevars firm Bosch plough work had their distributional channel office in visakapattinam, Bhuvaneswar and Vilupuram.

The main problem in kalapai industries are attitude of unskilled laborers, day wages employees and taxation policies.

The kalapai industries are facing vulnerable attacked by tax regime policies .They are paying 12.3% excess duty for carbon coke ,5% VAT ,1% TCS and there is no subsidiary for electricity bill .They are continuously targeted  by  pollution control department of Tamil Nadu Govt,more than ten companies were closed due to  bribe and other illegal formalities of pollution control departments. The reasons are that the pollution control departments are so strict in fumes raised from furnace.

Small requisites from kalapai industry association to the government for tax redemption to core products and also to reduce rigidity of pollution department and also to reduce interestrate of bank to 14% for future loans is necessary.

With shivering hands and painful heart I need to conclude by opaque frame on kalapai industry’s position and agriculture .It is  acceptable and  panic situation that there is no second generation farmers in current era ,so undoubtedly the future was big question mark for day basic amendments.