RAJSHAHI, April 25, 2021 (BSS) – Around 2.62 lakh tonnes of jute are expected to be produced from 1.25 lakh hectares of land in all eight districts in Rajshahi division during the current season.
Officials and farmers are very much hopeful about harvesting better jute yield everywhere in the country’s northwest region including its vast Barind tract this season.
Currently, the farmers are seen sowing seeds in some of the fields at present and the sowing activities are reportedly being delayed due to shortage of rainfall.
For the last couple of years, the enthusiastic farmers were also seen showing interest in cultivating jute after getting its repeated bumper production and lucrative market price.
Sirajul Islam, additional director of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), said farmers got fair prices of jute during the last couple of years and as a result, they are now eager to cultivate more jute.
“Around 10 to 12 years back, the farmers lost interest in jute cultivation as they did not get fair prices,” said the official.
Meanwhile, the current market price of jute has made the farmers happy because they never thought about the unprecedented price of the cash crop in the region.
Jute fiber is being sold at Taka 5,200 to 6,000 per mound at different hats and bazaars everywhere in the region creating a hope of getting back in the golden era of the cash crop in near future.
Market price of jute was Taka 1,600 to 1,800 per mound during the initial stage of harvesting and the price has stood to around Taka 6,000 at present which is the highest ever in the country’s history, said Imran Ali, 54, a farmer of Borgachhi village under Paba upazila.
So, farmers are very much happy after getting excellent yield and price, he added.
Ali had cultivated jute on seven bighas of land and attained good yield because of suitable climate conditions and sold most of his produced jute initially in fear of price declining.
But, currently, the price has become tripled compared to the initial price. None have thought about the present soaring price, he said.
Marjidul Sarker, a farmer of Yusufpur village under Charghat upazila, said he had cultivated jute on two bighas of land and sold his harvested jute at Taka 5,200 to Taka 5,500 per mound on an average.
Mokbul Hossain, another farmer of Khorda Gobindapur village, is now happy as he reaped a better price of his cash crop than the previous time.
Alamgir Hossain of Aloknagar village under Bagmara upazila has gained profit as he got good jute yield from his farm field and expected market price.
Jute trader Saidur Rahman at Naohata Bazar said jute was sold at Taka 1,400 to 2,000 per mound in the previous seasons.
He said the price may further rise mentioning that the price has hiked because of escalating demand of jute fiber in both domestic and global markets.
This year, he’s seeing the highest rate of jute.
Kazi Saidur Rahman, assistant director of Export Promotion Bureau in Rajshahi, said the volume of jute export is rising gradually.
Referring to the official records, he said jute worth over 2.34 crore US Dollar has been exported from Rajshahi in 2019-2020 fiscal year.
Increased farming of jute could revive the past glory of the golden fibre ushering a new era in the economy as well as saving the environment and soil health from further degradation.