As the cool breeze of winter begins to sweep across rural Bangladesh, date palm sap collectors in Sirajganj are preparing for a new harvesting season. In the villages of Kazipur, Raiganj, Tarash, and Shahjadpur, the preparation of date trees for sap collection is nearly complete.
According to local gachhis (date palm tappers), the process of preparing the trees for sap collection begins with cleaning the top of the tree. The upper white layer is cut and dried under the sun before being trimmed again to attach small and large containers for collecting sap.
Hasen Ali, a gachhi from Ranidighi village in Baruhas Union under Tarash upazila, said, “This year, we are preparing the trees a bit earlier for the winter season. It takes several days to prune and prepare each tree for tapping.”
The expertise of the gachhis is remarkable. Typically, earthen pots are used to collect sap, each holding between 6 to 10 liters. To preserve the sap, a coating of lime is often applied inside the pots. However, pots used for collecting raw sap, meant for direct consumption, are not treated with lime.
Hasen Ali further explained that sap is collected for three consecutive days, after which the tree is left to dry in the sun for the next three days. “We start tying the pots around 3 p.m., and by dawn—around 5 or 6 a.m.—we begin collecting the sap,” he added.
In Raiganj, gachhi Jahidul noted that the number of date palm trees has decreased in recent years. “Each tapper now collects sap from around 20 to 30 trees, most of which belong to others. For each tree, we pay the owner either seven to eight kilograms of molasses or about one thousand taka,” he said.
Tarash Upazila Agriculture Officer Sharmistha Sen Gupta said that date palm trees are common in various parts of the upazila and require little maintenance. The agriculture department encourages farmers to plant date palms around homesteads, field boundaries, ponds, and roadsides.
She added that if farmers utilize fallow lands to cultivate date palm trees on a commercial scale, they could earn significant profits by producing jaggery from the sap.
