Nipa palm molasses, little-known but has immense potential

People in Bangladesh are familiar with molasses, a syrupy sweet, and the most popular versions of it are made from sugarcane and dates.

But very few know that molasses can also be produced from nipa palm trees, which fell behind in popularity mainly because of lack of marketing.

People have been producing molasses from nipa palm trees—popularly known as Gol Pata trees—for several years in different villages of Kalapara upazila, including Nilganj, Nabipur, Mithaganj and Pakhimara, in Patuakhali. 

But the local growers have long been complaining about low prices of their produce.

How nipa palm molasses is made

"At first, the stem of the palm tree's fruit is cut with a sharp knife. Later juice starts coming out from the prickly part of the trees in drops," said Dipan Shikari, a 40-year-old molasses producer of Nabipur village.

The stem comes out from the fruit in Agrahayan, a Bangla month, which falls in November in Gregorian calendar.

"A plastic or earthen pot is hung with a rope around the pre-cut stem so that the juice falls directly to the jar," he said.

"The juice is collected twice a day, morning and afternoon. A day's collection is then placed in a large tin container to be heat with fire to vaporise the liquid and make a syrupy substance, which is called molasses."

The juice turns into molasses after being heated in fire for three to four hours, Shikari said.

"No medicine is used during the making of the molasses from nipa palm juice and we sell the healthy and tasty molasses in plastic containers."

Nipa palm farming area, farmers' number

Nipa palm trees are there in Kalapara upazila on 55 hectares of land, said ARM Saifullah, an official of the local office of the Department of Agricultural Extension.

"Locals collect juice from Gol trees for 5 months from Agrahayan (November) to Chaitra (March) to produce molasses."

About 300 families are currently involved in production of molasses from nipa palm trees in the upazila, he said.

Molasses production is a source of seasonal extra income for the villagers, Saifullah said.

Nipa palm or Gol trees are naturally grown in low land and these do not need any extra care to grow big enough to produce Gol juice, said Shuvo Howladar, another producer of molasses in Nabipur upazila.

However, the prices of plastic containers and earthen pots where the Gol juice get stored have doubled year-on-year, he said.

The prices of plastic containers doubled in a year, reaching Tk 15-20, up from Tk 10 in 2021, he said.

Daily collection of Gol juice

"Daily we can collect 8-10 pitchers of juice from 300 nipa palm trees and produce 25 to 30 kilogrammes of molasses," said Porimal Howladar of Nabipur area.

"We sell molasses at Tk 180 to Tk 200 a kg in the local market."

Hori Narayan Mitra, another molasses producer, said he inherited the skill of producing molasses from his grandfather. "My grandfather used to produce molasses from sugarcane."

Mitra said the locals sell molasses at cheap rates and often get deprived of fair prices for their produce.

The government should take steps to ensure better prices for the farmers of the nipa palm molasses, he said.

Buyers of Nipa palm molasses

"Buyers from different parts of the country, including Dhaka, Pabna, Barishal and Khulna, come to us to buy molasses," said Suniti Howladar, Mitra's wife.

People also order molasses over mobile phones, she said.

"We have already supplied 100 kgs of molasses to a company in Pabna through courier."

Uttam Howladar of the same area said he collects an average of 10 pitchers of Gol juice daily from 350 trees, produces 30 kgs of molasses and sells those both from his home and in the weekly market of Kalapara town.

"If the government establishes a market here in the upazila, we could have got better prices for molasses," he said echoing the views of Mitra.

Source of seasonal extra income

Gol trees are not only a source of juice, the leaves of the tree are also used as house canopy and fuel, said Shasdhar Howladar, a resident of Nabipur.

"However, people are now preferring to turn Gol gardens into agricultural lands for paddy cultivation, as molasses farming is not a profitable business to do."

Agar farming is also popular in the area, said Sajal Mitra, who also lives in the village.

"Molasses production from nipa palm trees has become an additional source of earning for the agar farmers, which is good for the locals."