Aloe vera worth Tk 5–7 lakh a year from 2.5 bighas, but leaves had to be buried in lockdown

Lakshmipur Kholabaria union in Natore Sadar is known as the 'medicinal village'; aloe vera is grown there on 131.69 hectares. According to a report in The Business Standard, a farmer in the village has grown aloe vera on his own two and a half bighas of land for eight years and sells Tk 5–7 lakh worth of leaves every year. Leaves can be cut every 20–22 days; each time he gets about 165 maunds of leaves. But during the 2020 lockdown he could not sell the leaves; to keep the plants alive he had to cut the leaves and bury them in pits. In the monsoon, excessive rain also reduces production, most of the leaves did not mature, and so the price fell. Earlier he sold 7.5 maunds of leaves for Tk 10,000–12,000; now he gets Tk 5,000–5,200 for the same amount. Still, he hopes prices will rise in future. The village growers say that although leaves sell for Tk 20 a kg in the local market, the main buyer, Taiwan Food in Bhaluka, Mymensingh, pays Tk 7–13 depending on quality; if more companies bought in larger quantities, prices would rise. The leaves are hard to store, and because there is no cold storage many leaves rot. The growers complain that cosmetics companies import from India instead of buying from local growers.