Bogura potters struggling to stay afloat with scanty income

BOGURA Jan 15: The Tk60-80 million pottery industry in Bogura enables the artisans to barley manage to survive, exclusively depending on the production of earthen pots and trays, which mainly covers the demand for the district's famed yoghurt.

Around 2,000 families across Bogura's 12 upazilas depend on the craft, clustered in roughly 18 potter villages.

For nearly 250 years, local artisans have been producing yoghurt containers using a distinctive clay and hand-crafted techniques that producers say help preserve the yoghurt's flavour, even as plastic alternatives dominate household use elsewhere.

Traditional household clay utensils have largely disappeared from local markets.

Instead, yoghurt containers have become the industry's economic backbone.

But rising inputs, mainly the sand or earthen matters, are eating up its profit. The poor

prices remained the same many years costs are squeezing livelihoods.

"The price of clay is high, but the price of clay pots is lower for many years" said Dhiren Chandra Pal, a veteran potter from Sheikhlakola Palpara in Bogura Sadar.

A truckload of clay costs Tk 4,000-5,000 and yields about 10,000-11,000 trays, which sell for Tk 8-10 each. A man can make 100 pieces a day. So after deduction of all costs there remains scanty profit or loss.

But "Paul" is a community and they do nothing but this profession. "After fuel, labour and coloured clay from Sherpur, there remains almost no profit," he said.

"But this is our ancestral profession - we cannot abandon it."

Many potters survive by borrowing from non-governmental organisations at annual interest rates of 12-14 per cent, according to Pratul Paul, a potter from Mohishaban village on the Ichamati riverbank in Gabtali upazila.

They are now demanding low-interest institutional loans to keep the trade alive and produce environment

friendly products. Mohishaban is widely regarded as the production hub of Bogura's pottery industry, though the largest wholesale market is Aria Bazar in Sherpur upazila, said Md Shakil Paikar, a wholesale buyer of yoghurt pots and trays.

He purchases Tk 150,000-200,000 worth of clay products daily, supplying large yoghurt producers including two branded and famous

youghrt makers- in Bogura Akboria and Asia.

Potters' settlements are spread across the district, including Shajahanpur's Aria Paulpara, Sheikherkola Paulpara in Sadar, parts of Shibganj and Nandigram, and Basunia Paulpara in Sonatala.

An estimated 8,000-10,000 people earn their livelihoods from pottery-related work in these areas.

Elderly artisans typically lead the shaping process, ensuring uniform weight and size -a key requirement for commercial yoghurt producers.

Anotherkul Chandra

Paul, a potter with three decades of experience, said

he once made a wide range of household items but now produces only yoghurt pots.

"I want my children to study and get good jobs," he said, adding that pottery alone offers limited financial security.

Rising costs have also eroded margins for women artisans.

"Earlier, even with lower prices, we made decent profits," said Shree Kamala

Bala, a woman in her sixties who now makes only yoghurt trays. The inflationary pressure persists for long but such types of price surges are not considered.

"Now everything costs more, and earnings barely cover food."

In local markets, pots sell for Tk 50, trays for Tk 7-8 and cups for Tk 9 - leaving narrow margins vulnerable to

cost shocks.

AKM Mahfuzur Rahman, deputy general manager of Bogura's Bangladesh

Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), said the government plans to support the sector through financial assistance and low-interest loans of 4-6 per cent.

"This industry is at risk of disappearing under the pressure of modernisation," he said. "If it vanishes, thousands of potters will be left in distress."

But availing of loans from the BSCIC is complex requiring multiple documents.

sajedurrahmanvp@gmail.com