Farmers who started tobacco production in this season said: “We are doing so due to the frustrating market price of essential food grains which we produce through dawn-to-dusk hard labour. Moreover, tobacco companies offer lucrative incentive packages.”
Sources from district Agricultural Extension Department (AED) said tobacco production is continuing uninterruptedly and increasing every year which may lead to decreasing cultivation of essential food grains. Farmers are cultivating tobacco on different fertile lands of the district including Doulatpur, Mirpur and Veramara upazilas.
“Earlier, a variety of essential food grains including paddy, sugarcane, jute, wheat and pulse used to be cultivated overwhelmingly in these three upazilas. Almost half of the produced food grains were distributed among other districts after meeting the local demand. But in recent years, a sharp rise in tobacco production has alarmingly decreased the total amount of lands that produce food grains; although it poses a serious threat to fertility of lands and farmers’ health,” said an AED official.
According to AED statistics, out of 1,15,875 hectors of total arable land in Kushtia, tobacco is being cultivated in 30,000 hectors of land at present.
AED officials and concerned citizens of the district apprehended that adequate production of food grains might be affected “if this trend continues”.
They said various tobacco manufacturing companies like British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Dhaka Tobacco, Abul Khayer, Jamil Group and Nasir Group are luring the farmers offering lucrative incentive packages.
Contacted, Mirpur upazila Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer Monirul Islam said: “The companies supply fertilisers, seeds and insecticides to the cultivators in advance. As a result, farmers do not pay heed to the consultations of AED officials who encourage them to produce wheat, lentils, gram, pea, maize and mustard. More and more farmers in the district are joining tobacco production as they do not get fair prices of their produced food grains.”
He said out of 24,030 hectors of total arable land in the upazila, tobacco is being cultivated in this season at 8,000 hectors of land where wheat, lentils, gram, pea, maize and mustard were cultivated. Earlier, after meeting the local demands; the upazila had about 2,500 tonnes of surplus food grains.
“If we can provide, considering the existing reality of the region, essential farming materials including fertilisers, seeds and insecticides as government incentives to farmers to inspire them to produce alternative crops, it might bring expected results,” the agriculture officer observed.
Observing that cultivation of boro does not even return the fertiliser and irrigation costs; Mojibur Rahman, a farmer from Haringachi village under Rifaitpur union in Daulatpur upazila said: “That’s why I started tobacco cultivation few years ago. Tobacco production at per bigha of land costs Tk8,000 to Tk12,000; and after the harvest, produced tobacco of per bigha land can be sold at Tk45,000 to Tk 50,000.”
Contacted, district AED’s Acting Deputy Director Dr Hayat Mahmud said: “Tobacco production takes six months of time, whereas cultivation of wheat, lentils, gram, pea, maize or mustard takes only three months with double profit.”
“As we do not have any legal way to stop tobacco production, we are focusing on awareness building; discouraging the cultivators from tobacco production,” he added.
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
