Demand for date palm sap rises every winter, and in Sonargaon, Narayanganj, gachhi (sap collector) Md Shahid Molla (46) is meeting it. People from different places crowd to his garden every day for its sap.

Md Shahid Molla was born in Bhanga upazila of Faridpur. For nine years he has travelled to different districts, buying date palm gardens and running a seasonal business. This year he bought the sap rights to a 10-decimal date palm garden in the Hamchhadi area of Sonargaon's Baidyer Bazar union for Tk 50,000. The garden, bought on a seasonal contract, has 27 trees, from which he collects at least 60-65 litres of sap a day and sells it at Tk 150-160 a litre.

"I bought the garden for Tk 50,000 on a partnership agreement with a man named Rakib, with his help," Md Shahid Molla told Jago News. "Since I started collecting sap in December I have sold about Tk 2 lakh, and I can sell another Tk 1 lakh. I bring the sap down at dawn and at 9pm and sell it at Tk 150-160 a litre. There are few date palm gardens here, so demand is huge."

"The sap business lasts only three months. I wait the whole year for these three months," he said. "My partner and I have been tending the trees since December. I don't know anyone at the agriculture office and have not yet been able to contact them."

Rakibul, who had come for sap, was going home without any. "I came from Rayerbagh because I heard sap was available, but we came at the wrong time and didn't get any today. I'll come back another day at the right time," he said.

Sonargaon upazila agriculture officer Abu Sayed Tarek told Jago News: "We regularly keep in touch with farmers. Incentives are currently limited, but we are still in regular contact with them. I will look into the date palm sap matter."

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