Cassia-leaf farming gaining popularity

Commercial cultivation of cassia-leaf, locally called tejpata, is gaining popularity day by day in Jhenidah's Kaliganj upazila as the item gives good profit compared to other crops.

Farmers in the upazila are counting a good profit and earning additional income by cultivating the item, used as spice for adding to flavour and taste to dishes, as it needs a little investment but has a high demand among consumers.

According to Kaliganj Upazila Agriculture Office, this year cassia-leaf is being cultivated in 30 bighas of land in the upazila.

Farmer Abul Kalam Azad of Sundarpur village said he has been cultivating cassia-leaf for the last four years.

This year he cultivated the item on 35 decimals of land and there are 130 plants in his plot.

He applies fertilizer on his plot two times a year, he said, adding that the leaves of a tree sell twice a year. 

He gets 25 to 30 kilogram of leaves from each cassia trees and sell the produce at Tk 70 to Tk 80 per kilogram, Azad said.

Leaves can be harvested after two years of planning the tree, he added.

Azad said he got 23 maunds of leaves from his 130 cassia plants in 2019.  

Another Jahid Hasan of Durgapur village said he cultivated cassia-leaf on one bigha of land spending Tk 12,000 this last year. 

He has already sold the produce at Tk 55,000 till January 10 and is expecting to get Tk 20,000 more from selling the item this month.

Kaliganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Jahidul Karim said about 60 farmers in the upazila are now engaged in cassia-leaf cultivation.

Nowadays, farmers are getting more interested in cassia-leaf farming as it required a very little cost but gives good profit, he said, adding that, a matured cassia-tree can produce 40 to 45 kilograms of leaves a year.