Hello Friends, Hope you all are well
When everyone is under panic with ongoing Corona virus pandemic, I am here with a different topic. My today’s topic is about Betel leaf farming. We call betel leaf as ‘Paan’ in our country. The scientific name of Paan is Piper Betel. There are variety of betel leaf across the world. If we count, there will be more than 100 species of betel leaf.
Betel leaf is widely popular in this subcontinent. The people of Bangladesh and India are the major consumers of Betel leaf. Due to higher profits, people in different districts of Bangladesh tend to cultivate betel leaf more than other crops. Betel leaf grow well in northern part of the country. Rajshahi is one of the productive districts of betel leaf cultivation. Betel leaf grow well in few southern districts as well. I had seen farmers were cultivating betel leaf in Barisal district. Betel leaf also produced in some hilly areas of the country.
We prefer to cultivate sweet betel leaf in our country due to high demand. Betel leaf grow well in tropical environment. Heavy rainfall is another requirement for better production of betel leaf. If you want to cultivate betel leaf, you have to prepare a shade. This is the first requirement to produce good quality betel leaf. Betel leaf is grown in wide variety of soils.
Field preparation matters a lot to grow good quality leaf. The bed where you want to plant betel leaf, should be 7-15 centimetres higher than the surrounding areas. The farmers have to ensure proper drainage system in between each rows of the plants. Before planting the betel cutting, proper grinding of soil is mandatory requirement. You can put some organic fertiliser, it will give you fresh and healthy leaf.
Early monsoon is the right time to plant betel leaf. Then, you will get mature leaf in February/March season. The farmers have to ensure proper shading in the betel garden for better growth of plants. Direct sunlight will not give you ultimate results.
Last month I visited a betel leaf garden. This was a new experience for me. I stayed there for quite some time and saw the entire process. I found few butterflies and dragonflies were flying there. As the betel leaf cultivation take place in closed system, those insects feel comfortable there.
I had to cross a makeshift bamboo bridge to visit the betel leaf garden. It was an exciting experience. I did this many times in my childhood.
There are many health benefits of taking betel leaf. It helps the digestion system. Chewing betel leaf helps to remove bad smell from mouth.
It has some bad side also. People take betel leaf with tobacco. This is very much injurious to health.
Last but not the least, my request to everyone to use this leaf for better purpose. We should avoid tobaccos while taking betel leaf.
I have used my iPhone 11 Pro Max mobile phone to capture these pictures.
Stay safe and healthy. Thanks.
