Grow more Date palm tree in Sundarban area

In Bangladesh, you will find this date palm tree abundantly growing here and there without any special care from anybody. Normally the crow, shalik, bulbuli and other small birds act as the disseminator of the seeds of this date palm. However, there are some farmers who take initiatives to collect the plantlets from roadsides and transplant on the borders of their own lands.

The Date palm juice is obtained by removing the top thorny branches with a bend knife. During the early winter (October-November) the Juice collectors or the Gachi prepare the plant for juice production. After removing the thorny braches of the tree, normally they allow about 10-15 days for recovering the tree from the branch-removing shock. Next time, they make a small triangle on the tree-top for a shaving. They make a regular shaving on the upper skin of the triangle on the top of the tree with the sharp knife. A cut piece from a small bamboo is inserted to flow the juice towards a soil-made pot.

In the afternoon, the tree is shaved and the soil-made pot is hanged on the tree top for collection of the juice. The juice excreted from the shaved part of the plant and deposited in the pot. The juice is collected in the morning. Normally, a Gachi (Juice collector) can sale this fresh juice for drinking or he can make brown sugar (Guhr) by boiling the juice. A date palm can give about 350-450 liters of fresh juice in a year. The Brix ratio of the juice is estimated to be around 10 degree. On an average, about 40 kg of brown sugar or Guhr may be produced from a single date palm in a year.

We see a very promising potential from the date palm for an alternative to sugar production from sugarcane. Guhr has a very special flavor which is better than the white sugar produced from sugarcane. People of Bangladesh love to make different kinds of special, tasty, homemade cakes from this Guhr.

The tree is very smart in protecting itself from the hurricane, cyclone and storm. During 2008, I found a date palm tree in the Kochikahli area of Sundarban in Bangladesh. Kochikahli is a sea shore place adjacent to the Bay of Bengal.  That Kochikhali date palm hero saved himself from the cyclone Sidre and still it is standing on the beach. There are also some other coconut and palm trees are still living on that piece of land after Aila, another cyclonic storm that hit the area after the cyclone Sidre.

This hints show us that the date palm, coconut and Palmyra palms are the strong and smart enough that can help Bangladesh saving from the hurricane and cyclonic storm. We may take initiatives to plant these smart trees near the Sundarban area which can support us by regular sugar production and breaking the speeds of the cyclone regularly coming from the Bay of Bengal.