RANGPUR, Nov 07: As winter is knocking at the door the date juice extractors (gachhi) at different areas in the district are preparing date trees for collecting juice.
A good number of gachhis engaged in extraction of date juice across the district are passing busy time preparing date trees.
The sweet and delicious date juice is very popular among the people of the region, especially the villagers like the juice very much.
Around two hundred date juice extractors in eight upazilas under the district are engaged in extracting and selling date juice.
Sobhan Mia, an extractor of date juice at Hidupara village under Mithapukur upazila said that due to different reasons the number of date tree is declining in recent years.
With the beginning of season he is passing much busy time climbing to the top of the trees, cleaning it, and peeling off the upper layer. He said last year he could make satisfactory profit by collecting and selling good amount of date juice.
This year he is also expecting to get sufficient amount of date juice, he further said.
Some date juice extractors said they are hopeful about earning around Tk 250 to Tk 300 a day from the sale of date juice.
A good number of people of the district are engaged in collecting and selling date juice and thus earn their livelihood. Date molasses and various kinds of delicious cakes are made from it as well, sources said.
Some date juice extractors said every year they wait for this particular time and they expect to do better business during winter just after harvesting of Aman paddy, as their income increases considerably during the time.
Generally, the orchard owners engage the gachchis on the basis of sharing of the collected juice or cash payment, they also said.
According to sources despite having huge demands date tree is on the decrease across the region owing to many reasons. The reasons include faulty extraction system, indiscriminate cutting down of trees as well as carelessness of gachhis, sources added.
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