TAL(BORASSUS FLABELLIFERLINN.: ARECACEAE): A VALUABLE ECONOMIC PALM OF RURAL BANGLADESH

The study explores the distribution pattern of tal palm in the rural landscape of Bangladesh along with their age-gradation, production, marketing and income from the sale of palm products. Field data were collected by interviewing 100 farmers from five villages of Jhalakhati district. Farmers were categorized into five categories based on the extent of their total landholdings. Twenty households (four from each category) were selected randomly from each village and the farmers interviewed and asked about their tal trees, their management, tapping, yields, processing and marketing the produce and prices. Field visits to the trees were made. Different parcels of land (e.g. homesteads, roadside, canal banks, pond banks and crop fields) characterize the rural landscape. Palms of all age classes occurred in each and every type. Considerable differences between the households in strategies for marketing and selling of palm products were encountered. Indigenous techniques in tapping and gur processing,...