The jute farmers in Jhenaidah have been moving here and there with their mature green jute sticks to ret them, while no water bodies of the locality has adequate water in them for lack of rainfall.
Almost all the local ditches, ponds and other water bodies seems to have been dried up and the scarcity of rainfall in the district is mainly liable for the situation, said the farmers.
Although monsoon has started already there has been very little rainfall in the district this time causing the decrease in the water level there, local farmers added.
Finding no other alternatives, the farmers have been dumping the jute sticks in smaller ditches, water holes and sometimes in the river for retting. As a result, on one hand the fibre quality is not reaching the desired mark. On the other hand, the colour of the river water has started to change into black and filthy killing smaller fishes.
Besides, larger fishes and water borne other species are apprehended to die within a few days, if the dumping of massive jute sticks into the river water continues, said the officials of the Jhenaidah office of the Department of Fisheries (DoF).
When this correspondent visited Ganna and Dohijuri villages of Jhenaidah Sadar and Talsar of Kotchandpur, he talked to a number of farmers on the roadsides. They said they have been moving here and there to rot their jute sticks but, could not see available water in the nearby ditches and ponds.
The farmers said they could not receive optimum price of the fibre as the quality of the same could not be ensured when it turned almost dirty and mild black due to dirty water in the ditches and holes. To dip the sticks, they had been putting huge quantity of mud on the stacks which is affecting the fibre quality. Scarcity of water due to unavailability of rainfall in the season is the major reason behind the situation, they said.
Sources of Jhenaidah office of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) informed that the jute farmers of Jhenaidah Sadar, Kaliganj, Kotchandpur, Moheshpur, Shailkupa and Harinakundu have brought 22,860 hectares of land crossing the targeted 22,850 hectares under jute farming in the current season.
DAE Deputy Director Asgar Ali when contacted admitted the scarcity of water for jute retting in the ditches and holes this season. He said his field level staffs have been advising the farmers to rot the jute sticks on the ponds and fill it with adequate water afterwards. However, the number of ponds in the upazila was not enough to meet the demand of the farmers, he added.
They have recorded 418 millimetres of rainfall between May and July 14 which is not enough for retting the jute this year, the Deputy Director said.
Jhenaidah District Fisheries Officer (DFO) Alfaz Uddin when contacted said water in the local rivers started getting black in colour and some species of the smaller sized fish have died for jute retting in them. Although pollution of river water was prohibited, they could not stop it as jute is one of the most important crops of the country, he added.
