30 years in the palm-fruit trade: Tk 3-4 lakh profit in 40 days and no loss in any year

A 53-year-old farmer from Sultanshi village in Habiganj has produced and traded palm fruit for 30 years. When six palm trees planted by his grandfather began bearing, he sold the fruit in the market for good money, and that gave him the idea of trading. Before Bhadra he buys trees on contract from the hilly areas of Chunarughat. Each year he buys the fruit of one to two hundred trees, paying Tk 2,000-3,000 a tree depending on the crop. Each tree brings Tk 5,000-6,000 in sales, and some yield two to three hundred palms. Palms sell for Tk 20-90 each by size, and wholesalers resell at Tk 30-120. He brings two or three hundred palms to the Habiganj town farmers' market every other day, and wholesalers from Baniachong, Nabiganj and other areas also buy from his house. He pays a worker Tk 200 a tree to climb and pick; apart from this wage and vehicle hire there is little cost. The business ends in 40 days with a profit of Tk 3-4 lakh. Some palms rot, but he sells the seeds for Tk 10 each and earns another Tk 40,000-50,000 a year. He now buys and sells tamarind, bael, mango and pomelo the same way.