Traditional gur making is one of the important cottage industries in India, which is still continuing, needs protection and improvement. The main objective of this study was to analyse technical know-how used in gur preparation and its ecological and economical implications taking a case study in the Ganjam district of Orissa with a view to offer suggestions for possible improvement. The traditional technology involved for extraction of juice, furnace and gur preparation are described in detail. The total sugarcane production was 62.5 Mg ha(-1) of crop. One kilogram of cane yielded 421 ml of juice which came to 26.44 x 10(3) l ha(-1). The total gur yield was 6.35 Mg ha(-1) of crop, which was stored in earthen pots. Total energy input into sugarcane crop was 41.4 GJ ha(-1), while total energy input for gur preparation was 4.1 GJ for the cane yielded per hectare of crop. Total monetary input for gur preparation was Rs. 64,920 while the output was Rs. 63,550 with an output-input ration of 0.98 indicating monetary loss in gur preparation. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.