Salahuddin Kazol, Jibannagar (Chuadanga)
Date palm tree tappers in Jibannagar upazila are busy preparing trees for sap collection as winter approaches, with the upazila targeting jaggery production worth over Tk 7 crore this season.
Once abundant across the villages of the upazila, date palm trees are now disappearing, threatening a cherished rural tradition and a source of income for local farmers.
Tappers are pruning trees, scraping their trunks and installing bamboo spouts ahead of the season. They climb the trees with ropes tied around their waists to carry out the risky work. Earthen pots will soon be hung from the trees to collect sap overnight.
The fresh sap is sold locally or used to make jaggery and patali, a solid form of date palm jaggery. The products are in demand across the country and are closely associated with winter traditions, including making pitha (traditional cakes) and payesh (rice pudding).
Kader Mallick, son of Anwar Mallick of Uthali village in Jibannagar upazila, said he had started work 10 days ago. He has removed dirt and unnecessary branches from the trees and is nearly finished exposing the golden layer of the trunks and installing spouts. Earthen pots will be fitted in a few days, after which sap collection and jaggery production will begin.
He said producing one kilogramme of jaggery costs Tk 160-180, while it sells for Tk 200-230, discouraging farmers from making it.
Liaquat Hossain, a tapper from Dehati village, said date palm sap was inseparable from rural winter traditions. Sap collection would begin in about two weeks. He owns 40 trees and has leased another 40. After a tree is cut for sap collection, it can yield sap for three to four days.
Abu Taleb, a tapper from Katapole village, warned that date palm trees were disappearing at such a rate that the country might eventually lose them altogether. He urged people to plant more date palm trees and nurture them to preserve the tradition, just as they do with palm trees.
Ismail Hossain of Jadavpur village said jaggery produced from date palm sap in Jibannagar was in high demand across the country. Trucks loaded with jaggery leave the villages for different destinations every year.
However, the traditional industry is under threat from brick kilns operating illegally, which burn hundreds of date palm trees in the area every day for fuel. The loss of trees has also adversely affected the rural economy, although tappers continue trying to preserve the tradition.
Locals said sap collection would begin within days and jaggery production would continue until around Falgun. Date palm patali and jaggery are expected to start appearing in markets around mid-autumn.
Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Chuadanga district Md Nurul Islam said 272,000 date palm trees were being prepared for sap collection in the district this year.
On average, each tree yields 10 kilogrammes of jaggery during the winter season. Based on this estimate, the district has set a production target of 2,700 metric tonnes.
He said date palm jaggery from Chuadanga remained in high demand across the country and expressed hope that this year's production would meet local demand while also supplying markets elsewhere.
Around 30,000 farmers in the district are involved in this seasonal occupation. #EK
