While visiting the tourism hub of Cox's Bazar, most tourists hardly miss travelling to Maheshkhali island.
It is the only hilly island in Bangladesh with long sea beaches, hilly areas and mangrove forests. But the trip remains incomplete if the tourists leave Maheshkhali without having its famous sweet betel quid (Paan).
With colourful decorations of Paan, betel sellers welcome the tourists at the jetty through which one enters Maheshkhali. A simple pack of betel costs Tk 5. But it can vary considering its ingredients.
Shahadat Hossein, a betel seller at the jetty, said,
"I only sell sweet betel leaf. A package of betel leaf with a few shreds of areca nut, a bit of slaked lime and spices sells at Tk 10 to Tk 50."
"Tourists not only buy them for themselves, but also take home for their loved ones," the betel seller added.
During the peak tourism season, the sellers can sell around Tk 6,000-7,000 every day.
Harihar Paul, another betel seller of Maheshkhali, said the sweet betel leaf of the island has become more popular among tourists recently because of its taste.
Another seller Nurul Islam said, "I have been running my family by selling this betel quid for 35 years."
The famous Maheshkhali sweet betel leaves are available everywhere in the beach city of Cox's Bazar.
Noman and his wife Afroza, a tourist couple from Dhaka, said that they had never eaten betel quid. But they are now having it because Maheshkhali betel leaves are tiny but tasty.
The cost of betel cultivation, however, is now skyrocketing. The prices of bamboo, trees, fertilisers and pesticides that the farmers need to grow betel leaves are on the rise. So, many farmers no longer want to invest money in betel cultivation.
Abdus Shukur, a betel grower of Kalamarchhara union of Maheshkhali upazila, said, "Three years ago, I cultivated betel leaf on a hilly slope. At first, I spent Tk 0.55 million (5.5 lakh) for that. But we are not earning as much as we expected."
"The price of betel leaf does not remain the same throughout the year," he added.
Abul Kasem, president of Maheshkhali Betel Growers' Association, however, said betel leaf prices are good in the current season.
Maheshkhali sweet betel leaves are currently being exported to different countries including Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Pakistan, he added.
