Iqbal Kabir Ronju, Chatmohar
The Jute farmers of Pabna’s Chatmohar upazila in Pabna are now very busy in cutting, retting, washing and drying jute sticks.
In the northern unions of Chatmohar Upazila Sadar including Bilchalan, Chaikola, Handial and the lower parts of Haripur Union farmers are already cutting down jute of Tosha and Mesta varieties as flood waters have already arrived.
At present jute farmers in the area are happy for the good price of jute. However, they have started to get worried as the price of jute has begun to decline already.
After facing losses in jute cultivation, when the farmers were turning away from jute cultivation, the farmers of this area became interested in jute cultivation again as they got good price of jute for two consecutive years.
They are now getting good profit by cultivating jute, the famous Golden Fibre of Bangladesh. So the scope of jute cultivation is also increasing.
Local jute farmers are benefiting from the training and workshops provided by local Jute Department office. Moreover, they are using modern and advanced technology instead of traditional methods in jute seed production and expansion.
According to Chatmohar office of the Department of Agriculture (DAE), jute has been cultivated on 8,720 hectares of land in 11 unions and one municipal area of Chatmohar this season.
Of these, Desi variety of jute has been cultivated on 135 hectares, Tosha variety of jute on 8,445 hectares and Mesta variety of jute on 140 hectares of land.
Last year, different varieties of jute were cultivated on 8,100 hectares of land in Chatmohar. Jute cultivation has increased 620 hectares of land this year as compared to last year.
Hannan Sarkar, a jute farmer from Boailmari village under Chaikola union of the upazila said he has cultivated jute on 9 Bighas of land this year. Cultivation, seeds, fertilizers, weeding, cutting, retting and scattering of fibres cost him Tk 11 to 12 thousand per Bigha.
He informed that he has already cut, retted, scattered the fibre, washed and dried some of his jute. He is hoping to get an average yield of 8 mounds per Bigha. Besides, jute sticks worth around Tk 2,000 will be available per Bigha. Even if he can sell jute at a price of Tk 3,000 per mound, his profit per bigha will be around Tk 14,000. Siddiqur Rahman, a jute trader from Navin village in Handial Union, said jute was sold at a price of Tk 3,500 per mound a week ago. At present Tosha and Mesta varieties of jute are being sold at Tk 3,000 per mound, he added.Chatmohar Upazila Agricultural Extension Officer Mohammad Al Imran said the good days of jute farmers have returned.
Farmers are now making a lot of profit. Jute cutting, retting and washing work has already started in the lower part of Chatmohar. As the weather had been favorable, it is expected that jute farmers will get good yield this year.
