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The study was carried out to study age-gradation, production, marketing and income from the sale of palm products with special reference to homestead of Barguna district. A total of 100 homesteads (4 from each village) were interviewed by using a pre-tested questionnaire to collect data. From each village and the farmers were interviewed and asked about their tal trees, their management, tapping, yields, processing and marketing the produce and prices. The annual production of tal at six upazilas of the district is about 5,996 metric tons with 25.67 metric tons of tal and 50 metrics of juice is produced in each hectare. Sixty percent of the trees in the selected villages grown on ail (agriculture land divider) or roadsides, 14% trees were distributed on homesteads and 15% on pond banks. Farmers said that tal generally starts fruiting at age 14-15 years, but productivity declines after 60 years. Trees aged 30-45 years produce the most juice and fruit. Farmers in the study area had tal palm of different age-classes, with the highest number of individuals (39%) in the 0-14-year age-class. As the middle-aged trees (30^4 years old) produce most juice and tal annually, the annual yield in the near future depends on the number of middle-aged trees in the area. The highest frequency of individuals in the lowest age-class (39%) indicates that there has been continuous regeneration to sustain the yield of tal palms in the study area. The average rate of juice production per tree in the study area for taulla and jaudda was 956 and 448 kg, respectively. Taulla was yielded almost twice as much as jaudda. Trees of the middle age class (30-44 years and 45-59) of both sexes produce the most juice. The production of fresh (gur, juice, tal candy) and dry product (fuel wood, building raw material, saw dust) in local market, city and abroad are average 0.9, 0.312,0.162,0.37,1.634 and 1.006 (Ton) respectively. The mean gur production per season across the household categories was 545 kg. The income from palm products increased with the increase in land holding size. Average annual income from the sale of tal products varied from Tk. 45,000 to Tk. 1,50,000 per household in the different household categories; mean Tk. 64,000. More than 85% of the income came from the sale of gur. Income per tree irrespective of sex was about Tk. 4000 per season. Considerable differences between the households in strategies for marketing and selling of palm products were encountered. Indigenous techniques in tapping and gur processing, and farmers experience in managing palm were applied. The study found that the employment and income generated from the traditional tal palm husbandry plays a vital role in the rural economy—especially among the poor. There it is recommend increasing the cultivation of tal pals in other parts of Bangladesh to increase the livelihood throughout income generation. |
