Young entrepreneur and nurse Shahriar Sijan makes unadulterated date palm molasses at his home in Magura. By collecting sap with experienced tappers (gachhi) from Rajshahi and producing pure molasses, he has made a name for himself. Sijan is the son of Khairuzzaman Sabuj of Chhoychar village in Magura.

During his internship at Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, he saw crowds of children suffering from diarrhoea and loose motions every day. Seeing the same problem again and again, Sijan began to think hard about it. He found that one major cause of the children's illness was pitha and other food made with chemically adulterated molasses from the market.

The name of his home district brings to mind pure date palm molasses, and it was in Magura that Sijan found his answer. In 2024 he invested his own money in a date palm grove there, brought in experienced tappers from Rajshahi, and began collecting sap and making pure molasses entirely by natural methods.

The venture was not easy. Many people scoffed and made careless remarks, but Sijan did not back down and pressed on with firm conviction. In its very first season his molasses won people's trust.

Speaking about his venture, Sijan said, "My biggest success is that the buyers of my pure molasses include doctors, nurses and health workers at the country's government hospitals, people who treat patients every day. Those most aware of food safety are buying my product with confidence. That is the greatest recognition of the quality of my molasses and patali."

The response has spread beyond Magura to neighbouring districts. Besides individual buyers, well-known sweet shops in Magura and several nearby districts are taking Sijan's molasses, so a small venture is now having a positive effect on the local economy.

Buying the small grove at the start cost about Tk 3 lakh. In just three months, after production costs, he made a profit of about Tk 2 lakh. This year Sijan has started on a larger scale and hopes to make a profit of Tk 4-5 lakh this season. Prices have been set at Tk 550 a kg for unadulterated date palm patali, Tk 450 for granular molasses (dana gur) and Tk 400 for liquid molasses (jhola gur).

Working with him now are dentist Sheikh Salauddin, two registered nurses and his friend Riju Biswas, who together are trying to get pure molasses into people's homes. When the winter deepens, Sijan plans to open a stall in Dhaka so that people in the capital can also easily get pure, safe, unadulterated date palm molasses.

Sijan told Jago News, "Being able to feed people unadulterated food boosts my confidence. When I think of children's health, I feel my efforts are worthwhile. The best part is that those who come to buy molasses and patali can drink fresh date palm sap in the morning."

Dentist Sheikh Salauddin told Jago News, "Amid all the adulteration, it is rare to find the real thing. For the first time, organic molasses and patali are available in Magura. The great idea first came to Sijan. Tappers are scarce and making molasses and patali is very hard work these days, but Sijan is still moving forward, and he has already made a name by collecting sap and making pure date palm molasses."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.