The combination of Paush and Magh in the six seasons of the Bengali calendar is winter. Now, only the last month of Hemanta, Agrahayan, has begun. There is still one more month left for winter as a six season. Yet, the atmosphere of full winter prevails in Jashore. The winter atmosphere begins from the middle of the month of Kartik. And this winter brings the season of ‘Jashore’s fame, palm juice’, which is famous throughout the country. Already, the farmers of Jashore have started collecting palm juice in full swing. They start preparing three weeks in advance. At that time, they cut the branches of the trees and prepare the place for collecting the juice. Now, the prepared place of the tree is cut on a specific day of the week and the juice is collected. The farmers spend the first half of the day preparing the necessary materials for collecting palm juice, such as the thile or bhar-khungi-dara, gachi da, balidhara, etc. As the afternoon rolls around, they rush to cut down trees with these materials. The next morning, they climb from one tree to another to extract the juice. After that, the women of the house also become increasingly busy. They are making jaggery by burning the juice in a cauldron. Their morning is passing by in a daze. They do not get time to catch their breath while making jaggery according to the rules. Again, the raw juice is also quite delicious to eat. Various types of pitha and paesh are made with the juice. Relatives living outside are also eager to taste that. Many relatives from outside are invited. Jashore is a district with many traditions. This district is also famous for its date juice and jaggery. It is also quite appreciated across the country and abroad. The fame of the district, which has been going on for ages, has been established and popularly known as ‘Jashore’s fame, date juice’. Winter days mean the scent of date juice and molasses in the rural areas of Jashore, fresh date juice in the winter morning, various types of pithas and pies made from the juice. Every day, food prepared with date juice is being prepared in some house or the other. The taste of date juice collected in the morning is also incomparable. Again, in the evening, the juice is boiled down and eaten in various ways. According to the Jashore Department of Agricultural Extension, there are currently about 1.625 million date trees in the district. When visiting different areas of the district, date trees are usually found in the fields, on the roadsides, on the banks of rivers or canals. Again, there are date orchards on fallow land in one or two places. According to scientific officers of the Agricultural Research Institute, the soil in the Jashore region is generally sandy loam. And there is no salinity in the water. As a result, the roots of the tree can go very deep. Overall, the climate-friendly date palm juice of Jashore is fragrant and delicious. The farmers said that raw juice is sold for 300-450 taka per baht (3-5 kg). A good quality baht of jaggery is sold for 1,000 taka. And the patali is sold for 700-1,200 taka per kg. The work of collecting the juice and making jaggery is quite difficult and time-consuming. From the beginning of the month of Ashwin (mid-October) of the Bengali calendar to the month of Chaitra (March), the farmers and their families have to spend a significant amount of time on it for about 5 months. By working tirelessly, the farmers earn a good income at the end of the season. The largest date palm jaggery markets in Jashore are located in Rupdia in Sadar, Khajura in Bagharpara, Manirampur, Keshabpur and Rajganj in Manirampur upazilas. Traders buy date molasses and patali from these markets and supply them all over the country. Since the artisans here are famous for making patali, there is a huge demand for date molasses and patali in other districts of the country, even outside the country. Many traders of Jashore order this delicious molasses and patali directly from the farmers and buy it at wholesale prices and supply it outside the country. Many have started online business a few years ago. In 2022, the then Upazila Executive Officer of Chougachha, currently Additional District Magistrate of Jashore, Irufa Sultana, said that she took the initiative to preserve the tradition of date molasses by organizing date molasses fairs, training of farmers, gathering of farmers, formation of cooperative societies of farmers, planting and preserving date trees. In the same year, she applied for Jessore date molasses for recognition as a GI product. Based on her application, it was recognized as a GI product on February 15, 2024. The formal inauguration of date palm tree production was held on November 2. UNO Shahinur Akhter inaugurated the event in Hayatpur village of Chougachha upazila. Tipu Sultan, a date palm tree farmer from the village, was cutting date palm trees in the field of Patengali village of Sadar upazila at around 3 pm on Saturday. He said, “I don’t have any date palm trees of my own. I have leased 150 trees from some people in the village. I hope to make a profit of 150 thousand taka from the 150 trees at the end of the season even if I lease or share them.” Md. Mosharraf Hossain, Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Jashore, told this reporter over the telephone that the agricultural office is encouraging and making farmers aware of safe juice and molasses production. In that case, the use of netting method is being encouraged instead of leaving the mouth of the fence or hill hanging on the tree open. Using a mechanical climber or tree climbing machine makes this difficult task easier for the tree growers. A project has already been sent to the ministry for this purpose.’ The Deputy Director further said, ‘A target of 3 crore 71 lakh liters of juice and 2 thousand 742 metric tons of jaggery production has been set in Jashore district in the 2024-25 financial year. According to the market price, the market price of juice and jaggery is about 100 crore taka.’