What lies on the roadside in a village is something to buy in Dhaka. Jackfruit leaves are a prime example: in this city the leaves are sold as well as the fruit, though not all year round, only at Eid-ul-Azha. At that time they are sold in the capital's lanes and on its footpaths.
Just after climbing Rampura Bridge, Aftabnagar lies to the left, where a big cattle market is held every year. Turning from Rampura Bridge towards Aftabnagar, the first thing on the left is jackfruit leaves, along with straw and bran. Picking up a bundle of leaves, the seller says Tk 30. It is perhaps no bigger than a bundle of bottle gourd leaves at the market.
Two decades of Eid trade
On Friday, 8 July, Khaleda was selling jackfruit leaves, straw and bran as feed for cattle and goats on the road to Aftabnagar. She sells to people heading home from the market with a cow or a goat.
Khaleda said a bundle of straw costs Tk 60; she ties three handfuls together and sells them for that. A bundle of jackfruit leaves goes for Tk 30, or sometimes Tk 25. She has run this business around the Aftabnagar market for 15 to 20 years.
"My husband is ill. I stay at home all year. When Qurbani Eid comes I do a little trade. I was the one who started selling straw and bran in this area. At first I only sold bran. Fifteen or 20 years ago there was nothing here. Back then business was good and I sold a lot. Now people have set up on every corner," she told Jago News.
Asked where she gets the leaves and straw, Khaleda said she buys the straw and bran, while the jackfruit leaves are delivered by pickup. She said she did not know where the suppliers get them from.
Leaves must be fresh
Jackfruit leaves were on sale at several other spots on the way to Aftabnagar, and many people were also selling them in the Badda Link Road and Adarsha Nagar areas.
In a lane in Adarsha Nagar, a man was selling jackfruit leaves at midday, but by evening he had none left. "Some sold, some I threw away. Straw and bran keep, but if jackfruit leaves aren't fresh the goats won't eat them and nobody buys them," he said.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
Comments
(0)