NAOGAON, July 09: Cultivation of jute is decreasing in the district due to unfavorable weather condition, high production cost and comparatively lower price of the product.
Sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said jute has been cultivated on around 6,150 hectares of land under eleven upazilas of the district this season.
However, the cultivated area was 6,930 hectares in 2018 and 8,025 hectares in 2017.
Farmers said they have to go through a huge cost during the farming of jute which includes plowing land, buying seeds, fertiliser and insecticide, irrigation, harvesting and other labour cost.
In this way, one needs to spend Tk 10,000 to Tk 12,000 to cultivate jute on per bigha of land, they informed.
Jabbar Pramanik of Balubhara village under Badalgachi upazila said he is cultivating vegetables instead of jute this year as the crop was not proved profitable in the last few years.
Peasant Shariful Islam of Nazirpur village under the same upazila said, "I am farming jute on a small scale this season only to meet my family demand."
"Scarcity of wetlands for retting the jute plants and lower price of the fibre frustrated me and made me to decide for switching to another crops", he added.
Additional deputy director (Crops) of Naogaon DAE AZM Ahsan Shaheed Sarkar said among some difficulties, lower price of fibre comparing to higher production cost is the main reason for the drop in jute cultivation in the district.
Farmers are being provided with necessary support from the DAE to cultivate other crops and vegetables to keep up their annual profit from the land, Mr. Sarkar added.
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