{
  "type": "article",
  "title": "A 2-Quintal Bullock-Driven Sugarcane Crusher Still Survives in This Sultanpur Village — Now Running on Electricity",
  "summary": "In Sultanpur's Mishrapur Puraina village, farmer Shyam Bahadur Yadav still owns a 30-year-old sugarcane crusher weighing more than two quintals, which has now been modified to run on electricity, and which locals treasure as a priceless piece of rural heritage.",
  "content": "The long journey Indian agriculture has made since independence can still be glimpsed in a small village in Sultanpur. Here stands a machine that was once essential to every sugarcane farmer, but which has now all but vanished in an era of scientific research, modern equipment and lightweight tools. It is the old-style sugarcane crusher — the kolhu — that was once turned by bullocks, and which younger generations have barely ever seen in action.\n\nA 30-Year-Old Machine His Father Bought for 20,000\nShyam Bahadur Yadav, a resident of Mishrapur Puraina village in Sultanpur district, says the crusher installed at his home was bought by his father. Roughly 30 years ago, it cost 20000 rupees. In the beginning it ran entirely on bullock power, but over the years the family adapted it. An electrical unit has now been fitted, and the machine is run on electricity so that this old equipment can still do its job in the present day.\n\nFive Times Heavier Than Today's Machines\nThe sugarcane crushers sold in the market today are extremely light in weight, which is exactly why farmers can shift them from one place to another with ease. This old kolhu, by contrast, is enormously heavy. According to Shyam Bahadur Yadav, it weighs about 5 times more than an ordinary present-day crusher — in other words, more than 2 quintals. Its sheer weight makes it very hard to move around. At today's rates, a crusher of this kind is valued at over 50000 rupees, though finding one at all has now become a rare thing.\n\nNow Left in Only a Handful of Villages\nShyam Bahadur Yadav tells TrendKia that only a few villages in Sultanpur district still have a crusher like this, since sugarcane is now crushed using modern machines. That is why most people sold off their old kolhus. But for those who still keep the machine, villagers no longer treat it as a piece of equipment up for sale — they regard it as a priceless heritage of rural tradition. Elders say that the sight of these machines brings their bygone lives flooding back and revives old memories.\n\nHow the Bullock-Driven Kolhu Worked\nThis old crushing machine had two large, heavy rollers. A small gap was left between the two rollers, and two to three sugarcane stalks were fed into it at a time. Bullocks were then used to turn the rollers round and round in a circular motion. As the rollers spun, the cane was crushed between them and the juice began to flow out. Beneath the rollers sat a triangular iron channel — a panara — through which the juice ran down and was collected in a vessel. As times changed and its usefulness declined, this very machine now stands on the verge of complete extinction.",
  "url": "https://trendkia.com/en/culture/sultanapura-ke-eka-ganva-men-aja-bhi-jinda-hai-bailon-se-chalane-vala-2-kvintala-747",
  "category": "Culture",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-14",
  "tags": [
    "sugarcane crusher",
    "Sultanpur",
    "rural heritage",
    "sugarcane crushing machine",
    "bullock kolhu",
    "Shyam Bahadur Yadav",
    "old farming tradition",
    "Mishrapur Puraina"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "site": "TrendKia"
}