Traditional Khaer industry dying

The industry of catechu – known as Khaer, which is consumed with betel leaf –  developed in the northern districts of the country during the second half of the last century is on the verge of extinction for lack of government policy support, scarce raw materials and import from other countries.

People concerned said that thousands of people who were involved in this industry have become unemployed due to the crisis.

They said the availability of catechu trees helped grow the industry in Rajshahi's Charghat and Natore's Bonpara areas. Catechu factories were found in almost all the households in the Gopalpur village of Charghat. According to people concerned, there were around 100 catechu factories in Charghat upazila alone.

However, currently, only eight to 10 factories in Charghat are in production and all the factories in Bonpur shut down.

According to people concerned, the industry started its journey in Charghat in 1952 and flourished in the fifties by the Bihari people coming from India. Many local people of the area got involved with the industry during this time.

The sixties, seventies and eighties of the last century were the golden age of the catechu industry in the country. At that time, about 40% of the people of Charghat were involved in this industry. But in the early nineties, the industry began to collapse for various reasons.

The traders tried to keep the industry afloat and in 1995 formed the Charghat Bazar Catechu Traders Multipurpose Cooperative Society. Later, another association named Charghat Municipality Catechu Business Association was formed. However, the industry faced a gradual fall despite all the effort. 

Entrepreneurs mentioned old production methods, unequal competition with imported catechu, lack of raw materials, lack of government support as the main reasons behind the downfall of the industry.

Enamul Haque, catechu factory owner from the Gopalpur village in Charghat, has been involved in this industry for over 30 years. He said, "It is my ancestral business. But the industry has declined for different reasons over the past decades."

"It has become difficult to produce catechu mainly due a lack of catechu trees. Earlier, a lot of catechu trees could be found in the fallow lands of this area. Now there is no more fallow land." 

"It takes around 30 years for a catechu tree to mature. Farmers do not have time to wait for so many years. The forest department should plant a large number of catechu trees in the fallow land," he added.

He further said, "The domestic industry faced trouble as catechu is being imported from Indonesia and Malaysia. As it is available in these countries, the price is also lower. The Malaysian catechu is sold at Tk800 per kg, but the local ones are priced between Tk1,500 to Tk1,600 per kg."

"Although the production cost of local catechu is higher, its quality is far better," he noted.

Ashraful Islam, another factory owner, said, "There is no profit in this business any more. I am continuing production as it is my ancestral profession. Catechu trees are not available and the price of the trees is also high. The price of a mature tree is Tk30,000 to Tk40,000."

Kamal Uddin, president of Charghat Bazar Catechu Traders Multipurpose Cooperative Society, said, "Even in the eighties, catechu trees were brought to the market in hundreds of bullock carts. But now, only a few people are involved in the production and processing of catechu in this area.

The forest department has planted catechu trees in different parts of the northern region. In 2009/10, around 4,000 trees were planted in the field next to Rajshahi Betar Relay Centre. Besides, catechu trees have been planted beside a 3 km road in Natore. Some trees have also been planted in Dhamairhat area of ​​Naogaon on the initiative of forest department.

However, Rafiquzzaman Shah, divisional forest officer of Rajshahi Social Forestry Department, said that some trees have been planted before, but there are no plans to plant new trees.

A native plant of this region

Catechu is a native species to the Indian subcontinent and its adjoining areas. In Bangladesh, this tree could be mostly found in Dhamairhat, Gobindganj, Charghat, Rajshahi, Debiganj, Nawabganj, Dinajpur, Khansama, Birganj, Haripur areas of the country. Especially, the Barind area was famous for catechu trees.

It is eaten mainly as an ingredient with betel leaf. However, it is also used in producing dye, medicine and different chemicals. 

There are two kinds of catechu found in the market – red catechu and round catechu. The first one is produced from the extract created by boiling the bark of catechu trees for about two hours in hot water. The price of red catechu is Tk14,000 to Tk16,000 per maund in the local market. 

The round catechu, also known as Janakpuri catechu, is produced by drying the juice of red catechu for two to three months extracted trough a machine. The price of round catechu is Tk40,000 to Tk60,000 per maund.