‘Rajshahi Sweet Pan’ has been recognized as a Geographical Indication (GI) product. On August 31 last year, Rajshahi Sweet Pan was registered as a GI product.
On Wednesday (April 24), the Director General of the Department of Patents, Industrial Designs and Trademarks of the Ministry of Industry said. Munim Hasan has signed this registration form.
Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner Shamim Ahmed applied for recognition of Rajshahi Sweet Pan as a GI product. He confirmed the receipt of the registration on Thursday (April 25) morning.
The District Commissioner said that betel produced in Rajshahi district will henceforth be known as ‘Sweet betel of Rajshahi’. By getting GI registration, Rajshahi paan will be considered superior to other paan not only in Bangladesh but also outside the country.
According to the information of the Directorate of Agricultural Extension, 4 thousand 496 hectares of land in Mohanpur, Bagmara, Durgapur, Tanor, Paba and Puthia upazilas of Rajshahi have ben barge. About 38 thousand 900 farmers are associated with betel cultivation. Last year 76 thousand 678 tons of betel nut was produced in the district. Pan in Rajshahi is sweeter than other places in the country. So its demand is high. Although Rajshahi is famous for mangoes, the district’s betel market is the biggest in terms of financial value.
As this betel has now been recognized as a GI product, stakeholders are hoping that the marketing of betel will get more benefits from now on. The familiarity, reputation and demand of Rajshahi beers will increase further. As a result, the farmers will also get good price of betel leaf. Due to the expansion of betel cultivation in Rajshahi, the process of setting up the country’s first betel research center is underway.
