Farmers frustrated over price fall of jute in Charghat

Mynul Haque, Charghat (Rajshahi)

Farmers of Charghat Upazila in the district are frustrated over price fall of jute this season. As a result, they are facing losses since they are not getting the fair price of the product.
Due to the sudden fall in the price of jute, farmers could recoup the production cost. Most of the local jute traders are buying jute from farmers at lower prices. Because of this, the local farmers are losing interest in jute cultivation.
According to Sub-Assistant Jute Development Officer Hasan Ali, jute has been cultivated on about 3,400 hectares of land in Charghat this season. About 2,200 farmers have been given jute seeds this season.
In jute cultivation, farmers face many difficulties from seed sowing to yield. Due to the lack of timely rain, the saplings did not grow properly and the yield of jute was disrupted. Although the jute plants became suitable for cutting, these dried up in many lands due to lack of rain. As a result, farmers have to count the loss. This time, starting from seed sowing, fertilizer, labor cost, tilling, weeding, and harvesting, the cost per bigha is about Tk 20,000. On the other hand, the income of farmers is about Tk 16-17 thousand per bigha. When talked, the farmers said that they would not be able to recover the net cost by selling jute lower price this season.
At the beginning of the season, per maund jute was sold at Tk 2,700, but when the supply of jute in the market increased, it came down to Tk 1,650.
Jute grower Mahar Ali of Thanapara Village in the upazila said, “I cultivated jute on about 7-bigha land. I got 8-9 maunds of jute per bigha.
As the production and prices are low, I will have to face losses of about Tk 3-4 thousand per bigha. I will not grow jute next year as I did not get the fair price of jute this year.”
Charghat Upazila Agriculture Officer Lutfon Nahar said, “As the farmers got the fair prices of jute in the past few years, they cultivated jute exceeding the target this year.
We gave subsidies to farmers for improved varieties of seeds to increase production. Due to the lack of timely rain, the farmers could not rot the jute properly, so the quality of the jute suffered. As a result, I think that the price of jute might have decreased.”