With the arrival of winter, date palm sap collection has begun across Dinajpur, bringing seasonal activity to hundreds of date palm trees and keeping traditional sap collectors busy.
Collectors, locally known as gachhis, are working in 13 upazilas, including Nawabganj and Phulbari, collecting fresh sap and making date palm molasses.
Before sunrise, they climb the trees to collect sap stored overnight in earthen pots. The sap is then boiled in large metal pans over traditional clay stoves to produce date palm molasses, locally known as gur, as well as patali and liquid molasses.
Hazrat Ali, a sap collector working in the Daudpur area of Nawabganj upazila, said he and five others from Bagmara upazila of Rajshahi district had been coming to Dinajpur during the winter season for the past five years to collect sap and make molasses.
They take date palm trees on contract from their owners each year. This season, they have leased 232 trees and started collecting sap at the beginning of winter.
Another collector, Zakir Hossain, 42, from Manoharpur village in Bagmara, said the six-member team travelled to different districts for four to five months every year to make molasses. During the rest of the year, they returned home and engaged in other work.
Hazrat Ali said he had learned the trade from his forefathers and had continued the seasonal business for years.
He said each tree initially yielded around two to 2.5kg of sap daily, which gradually increased to three to four kilograms. At the beginning of the season, the team produced around 25- 30 kg of molasses a day, with production eventually rising to one or two maunds.
The molasses is being sold to wholesalers at Tk235 per kilogram and to retail customers at Tk250.
With winter approaching, date palm molasses is also becoming popular in rural households, where it is used to prepare traditional cakes, payesh, puffed rice snacks and other seasonal delicacies.
Although date palm molasses costs slightly more than sugar, its distinctive taste and aroma have kept demand high, locals said.
Buyer Abu Taher said the winter atmosphere had already begun to set in during Kartik, making date palm molasses an essential ingredient for seasonal delicacies.
He said he preferred buying molasses directly from the collectors because he could see them collecting the sap and preparing the product in front of customers, ensuring its quality and purity.
Nawabganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Bidhan Kanti Halder said he had visited the molasses-making activities and instructed the collectors to maintain cleanliness and hygiene during production.
The seasonal tradition has turned into a festive activity across Dinajpur, particularly in Nawabganj, Phulbari, Sadar, and Bochaganj upazilas.