Salim Parvez Brahmanbaria
Farmers in Brahmanbaria have reported a bumper jute harvest this season, but many fear they will once again be deprived of fair prices as the government has yet to announce an indicative market rate.
Across the district’s rural areas, farmers are busy harvesting, retting and drying jute. Growers say rising production costs, coupled with the absence of a government price benchmark, are forcing them to sell their produce to middlemen at lower prices. Agricultural officials, however, insist that farmers are receiving satisfactory returns.
A visit to the district’s haor region found healthy jute fields and strong yields following favourable weather conditions. Farmers said that although production has been good, the profitability of jute cultivation remains uncertain due to increasing cultivation costs and price fluctuations.
Ripon Mia, a jute farmer, said it costs between Tk8,000 and Tk10,000 to cultivate one kani (around 30 decimals) of land. “With current prices, it is becoming difficult even to recover production costs,” he said, adding that labourers charge between Tk700 and Tk800 a day for harvesting jute.
He alleged that many small farmers are compelled to sell their jute cheaply to traders and middlemen because they lack market information and bargaining power. The traders later store the fibre and sell it at higher prices, while growers receive little profit despite months of hard work.
Farmers urged the government to fix an advance market price for jute to ensure fair returns at the grassroots level. Jute is currently selling for between Tk4,800 and Tk5,000 per maund in local markets.
Dr Mostafa Imran Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Brahmanbaria, said jute had been cultivated on 4,575 hectares across the haor upazilas of Nasirnagar, Sarail, Nabinagar and Bancharampur this season.
He said local farmers cultivated Deshi, Kenaf, Mesta and Tosha varieties of jute and that favourable weather had resulted in an excellent harvest. “We hope farmers will receive fair prices as market conditions remain favourable,” he said, adding that this year’s jute production in the district is estimated to be worth around Tk100 crore.
Abu Bakar, agricultural marketing officer in Brahmanbaria, said the department is promoting greater use of jute products through an 11-day training programme.
He said the initiative aims to expand the use of jute and increase the export potential of jute-based products. Anyone interested in working with jute products can contact the department for training and support, he added.
