Patali gur made in Rajganj in Jashore's Manirampur is loved by people across the country, and just as much by Bangladeshi expatriates and local people in Malaysia and Singapore. So gur and patali made from the region's date palm sap are now being exported to Malaysia and Singapore.

Braving the bone-chilling cold, gachhis (date palm sap collectors) set out before dawn to collect sap. Sap collection is now under way in every village of the upazila's Rajganj area, and gur and patali are being made from it in house after house. At the start of winter, gachhis here cut the date palms and hang "thile" pots to collect the sap.

Local people said demand for date palm sap is high not only in villages but in towns too. To meet it, gachhis head for town early in the morning to sell the sap they collect. With good prices for raw sap and the gur and patali made from it, gachhis in various parts of the upazila are profiting.

Gur is selling at Tk 900 to Tk 1,000 for a small pot weighing 6 kg and Tk 1,900 to Tk 2,000 for a large pot, while patali sells for Tk 250 a kg.

Because of exports, however, gur and patali are in short supply in the Rajganj area's markets this year. And with new gur and patali selling at higher prices, ordinary buyers are rather disappointed, though the gachhis are happy.

Local gachhi Ali Akbar and gur traders Rafiqul and Rahmat of Bhola district said they collect high-quality gur and patali from farmers and supply them to various parts of the country. The gur and patali they supply are now being exported directly to two countries, Malaysia and Singapore.

They believe that to grow this business further, government and private entrepreneurs must quickly come forward to plant date palms in every area, and the burning of date palm trees in local brick kilns must be stopped.

Source: Dhaka Tribune. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.