Since beginning of the harvesting season, the jute growers have been deprived of fair price due to dominance and malpractices by the middlemen and traders gang at different hats and bazars in the district.
Concurrently, the farmers are failing to recoup the production cost amidst the adverse situation.
In the current season, the jute farming faced drought due to scanty rainfall that forced the farmers to irrigate their land to save their crop. The farmers also face an awkward situation in rotting the jute as the ponds and beels remain dry. The merciful rainfall in late Shravan, however, reduced their sufferings in some extent, reports BSS.
Additional irrigation cost and enhanced labour-cost had propelled the jute production cost this season, farmers said.
They hardly produced eight mounds of jute fiber from per bigha of land by spending at least Taka 8,000.
On Monday last, one mound of jute was sold at Tk1,000 to Tk1,200 at Nawhata wholesale market and the price isn’t sufficient to recoup the production cost.
Most of the farmers alleged that the middlemen and businessmen keep the jute price reduced through syndication.
Sunil Kumar Ghosh, a farmer of Dharmahata village under Pabau upazila, said he had cultivated jute on 1.5 bigha of land and harvested only seven mounds of jute in the wake of bad weather.
He sold the jute at Tk1,160 per mound and couldn’t get back production cost after selling his harvested jute, he added.
Sunil mentioned that most of his fellow farmers are facing the similar situation.
Jute farmers and agriculturists told BSS separately that the farmers cultivated jute on 12,100 hectares of land in the district this season against the target of 13,514 hectares set by the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).
Expressing their grave concern over the present situation the farmers demanded immediate interference of the government to ensure legitimate price to the growers. Otherwise, they apprehended that the farmers may turn back from jute cultivation which, in turn, may affect the national economy.
Ekabbar Ali of Shreepur village under Paba upazila said the farmers in the early season have rotten their jute plants using water from deep tubewell as all the nearby ponds, canals and ditches remain dry due to scanty rainfall this season.
In addition to the suffering, the jute growers also had to spent more money for the harvesting and fiber segregation purposes after facing a labor-crisis situation, he informed.
He demanded legitimate price of jute for the sake of boosting its output through making the farmers more interested towards the cash crop farming.
Ekabbar Ali said the jute is being sold at Tk1,000-1200 per mound whereas the price was Tk1,200-1,400 in 2012 while Tk2,000 in 2010. “The present market price is very much less than production cost of around Tk8,000 per bigha,” said Asad Ali, a farmer of Tema village under Mohanpur upazila.
Abu Bakker Ai, former president of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, urged the public and private sector jute mills authorities to purchase jute from the farmers directly and at mill get instead of the middlemen.
The farmers, in large, were seen bringing jute to different hats and bazaars with the hope of meet up their family needs by the sale proceeds. But taking advantages of the situation the middlemen gangs are seen forcing the growers to sell their produced in less price.
In this situation, most of the farmers are failing to recover their production cost.
Abdur Rahim, a farmer of Bargachhi village, said the farmers will get fair price if the public and private jute mill authorities were purchase jute from the growers directly instead of the middlemen.
“If this adverse situation prolongs, the jute farming are supposed to be declined in the years ahead,” apprehended Abdur Rahim.
