Water lilies (shapla) that grow wild in beels, ponds and low-lying land in the monsoon have become a source of income for poor people in Shariatpur. Low-income men and women take boats into the beels at dawn, gather the lilies, clean them, tie them into bundles and sell them at local markets.
Depending on the market and season, a bundle of 10 to 12 lilies sells for Tk 10 to 20. Sellers say no capital is needed, so when farm work and other jobs dry up in the rains, it gives many poor families extra income. Abdul Gafur, a seller at Palong bazar, says he gathers lilies every morning and pays his household expenses from the sales.
Gobinda Bala comes from Amgram beel in Rajoir, in neighbouring Madaripur, to sell in Shariatpur, and says demand is good enough for him to sell every day.
Masuma Jannat, additional deputy assistant director of plant protection at the Shariatpur agricultural extension office, said water lily is not yet listed as a farm product and her department has no research on it, but it grows plentifully in the district's beels, ditches and low land and now reaches markets on a more commercial basis than before.
This report is based on a report published by Agricare24, citing BSS.
Photo: Rameshng / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Source: Agricare24
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