Jute growers irked by non-payment of their dues and sluggish retail sales incinerated unsold raw jute in front of a government procurement centre recently in the Mahimagani area of Gobindaganj upazila in Gaibandha.
The symbolic protest, which was preceded by a demonstration, came at a time when plummeting jute prices became a matter of concern both for the growers and traders as well as the procurement centres.
The centre in front of which Tuesday’s protest took place was launched on August 6 this year by Bangladesh Jute Mills Cooperation, with the aim to purchase jute from farmers.
Initially, the arrangement worked as the procurement managers purchased Tk13m worth of jute from the growers and midlevel traders. Each maund (40kg) of jute was purchased at TK1400-1500 depending on quality.
The farmers were happy to be able to reap desired profits after a good harvest, but soon cracks began to appear in the arrangement mainly because of a sharp decline in sale because of poor consumer response. At present, each maund of jute is selling at TK 900-800 at the Mahimaganj Bazaar as the wholesalers say “there are not enough customers.”
Farmers who sold their produces to the procurement centres are failing to recover their outstanding payments because the latter are failing to sell them at expected prices.
Irked farmers are seen crowding the centres with the hope of repayment almost every day, and going back frustrated.
M Jahed Hossain, a farmer who was present at the protest, said he had sold 20 maunds of jute to the procurement centre in mid-August but did not yet get any money for that.
“Lack of customers at the local markets and unpaid dues have intensified the sufferings of all jute growers like me,” he added.
Several other farmers also expressed similar discontents and warned they would go for “tougher movements” if the authorities concerned do not take urgent steps to make payments.
M Khairul Islam, who is in charge of the jute procurement centre in Mahimagani, said he had sent a letter to the higher authorities seeking TK13m to clear the debts. “All dues of the growers and traders would be paid as soon as we have the money.”
However, growers and traders also urged the government to take necessary steps to increase the prices of jute without delay.
