Gaibandha farmers rejoice at high jute prices

GAIBANDHA, Nov 03: Farmers in Gaibandha this year have been selling jute at about twice as much the price of last few years, while the happy growers and their families spend a busy time ginning, dehusking and drying the golden fiber.

Good yield, coupled with prices ranging from Tk 3,000 to Tk 3,500 per maund from the past few year's prices at Tk 1,500 to Tk 2,000, raised hopes among the farmers that in future they would get more profit out of their produce.

Farmers said they will cultivate more jute if they get prices like this. Adding that this year's yield was as good as it was satisfactory, some farmers called for increasing government support for jute cultivation.

The production cost for per maund of jute was about Tk 1,250 this year,

according to a farmer from Chakbarul village in Gaibandha Sadar's Badiakhali Union. He said ploughing, seeds, fertilizer, hoeing and then after harvest, the cutting and

threshing cost Tk 9,500 to Tk 10,000 per bigha, which produced seven to

eight maunds of jute.

A total of 13,822 hectares were brought under jute cultivation in Gaibandha this season. Of that, Tossa jute was cultivated on 13,414 hectares, while native jute varieties were grown on the rest, according to sources at the Department of

Agricultural Extension (DAE), Gaibandha. The production target has been set at 39,914 tonnes.

Md. Majedul Islam, Jute Development Officer at the Directorate of Jute, Gaibandha, said that farmers are being regularly advised to make jute cultivation

more profitable. "We are paying special attention so that farmers do not face losses in any way. Various initiatives have been taken to increase the production of the golden fiber and encourage farmers."

He believes that farmers will get a fairer price if government jute purchase centers are opened.

Deputy Director Md. Khorshed Alam of DAE, Gaibandha, told Financial Express the yield of jute has been as expected due to favorable weather and rain. "If farmers make a profit by selling jute, their interest in cultivation will increase further.

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