Jute trade at local haat bazaars of Thakurgaon district is going on in full swing and this season farmers have expressed satisfaction over the high market price of the golden fibre.
On a recent visit to the Khochabari Bazar, the local open-air market where traders from around the country visit to buy jute, this correspondent saw farmers bringing in bundles of golden fibres on rickshaw-vans and auto-rickshaws for sale.
Speaking to Ahmed, a jute farmer from Akhangar, said he harvested 27 maunds of jute from his 1.5-bigha land at a cost of Tk12,000. And he sold it all at Tk3,000 per maund, which is more than he could ever expect.
Md Shahabuddin, another jute farmer from Gareya Kalitla, said he had cultivated jute on a four-bigha land. “Due to the favourable weather, the yield has been good this time. Whereas I thought I wouldn’t get a good price at the beginning of the season, now I am selling jute at a price that I didn’t get in the last 5-6 years.”
Abdur Rahman, a trader from Dhaka, said the newly harvested jute fibre was being sold at rates between Tk2,600-3,000 per maund (every 40 kg) depending on the varieties and quality of the fibre.
Ananta Ghosh, a local jute trader, said that this season, as soon as the jute hit the market, the price suddenly shot up. “Last year, we bought jute for Tk1,500 to a maximum of Tk1,600 per maund. So far, I’ve stocked jute worth Tk60 lakh this season.”
Amir Hossain, another jute trader, said they sent jute to mill owners across the country including Dhaka. “However, many jute mills still remain closed, which if reopened will allow us to earn a handsome profit. I have stocked jute worth Tk80 lakh this season and I intend to make a decent profit.”
Uttam Kumar Roy, the leaseholder of Khochabari Bazar, said that traders and farmers bought and sold jute worth Tk60-70 lakh on every two days the “haat” (open-air market) sat each week.
Most of the traders came from Saidpur upazila of Nilphamari district. Besides, traders from different parts of the country also came to this market to buy the quality jute, he added.
Abu Hossain, deputy director, Thakurgaon Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said jute was cultivated in more or less all upazilas of the district.
Farmers cultivated jute on 6,817 hectares of land, which is 525 hectares more than the target set by the district DAE office ahead of the season.
Now, the jute harvested from this region is being sold to different mills and factories across the country.
The top DAE official hoped that the jute cultivation in the region would expand in future with more and more farmers getting into the cash crop because of its good market price.
