The arrival of Agrahayan signals the onset of winter and the beginning of the traditional date juice and molasses season in Kushtia, where production activities are now in full swing. This year, the district has set a production target of 200 tonnes of date molasses for the short seasonal window.
As the morning sun breaks through the fog, date palm tappers become busy with their work. Along the bypass road on the outskirts of Kushtia town, a festive atmosphere surrounds the collection of date juice and the firing of stoves to produce molasses.
With the arrival of winter, hundreds of tappers have leased date trees and begun extracting sap, which is then processed into the region’s well-known traditional date molasses. Due to its high quality, molasses from Kushtia is in demand across Bangladesh. Workers involved in one orchard along the bypass expect to sell sap worth around five lakh taka and molasses worth nearly 20 lakh taka this season.
Tappers said the orchard contains around three hundred trees. Since it is not possible for one person to manage that many trees, a team of five workers has come together to tap them. Despite higher tree leasing costs this year, they remain optimistic about earning a profit.
In the Satbaria area of Mirpur upazila, young entrepreneur Sohag is producing molasses using hygienic methods. His chemical-free and unadulterated molasses is gaining popularity both domestically and internationally.
Entrepreneur Abdur Rahman Sohag said they collect sap safely using covered clay pots and produce pure date juice and molasses through entirely natural processes.
Visitors and buyers said adulterated food products are widespread, and they come to Satbaria specifically to find pure and high-quality date juice and molasses. Many noted that the products here consistently meet their expectations.
The Department of Agricultural Extension has set a revenue target exceeding five crore taka from date molasses production in the district this season.
Kushtia Mirpur Upazila Agriculture Officer Abdullah Al Mamun said that among their “out-of-the-box” initiatives is expanding the number of date palm trees by encouraging plantation along roadsides. He added that increasing the availability of date palms will create new employment opportunities and bring meaningful economic changes to the region.
In Kushtia’s rural economy, the vibrancy seen every winter is driven significantly by the extraction of date juice and the production of molasses, a seasonal industry deeply intertwined with local livelihoods.
