CHATTOGRAM, Mar 04: As the salt cultivation season will approach its end in May, salt-farmers are currently busy in cultivating crude salt in Chattogram's Banshkhali upazila's coastal areas.
As the weather is favourable this year and coronavirus infection rate is declining fast, farmers of the south-eastern district are hopeful of making some profit from salt cultivation this season.
Crude salt cultivation season starts in November and ends in May every year in Bangladesh.
Besides, Banskhali, salt is cultivated in Chattogram's another coastal upazila, Anwara. However, Cox's Bazar, which produces 95 per cent of the total crude salt demand of Bangladesh, is the country's prime natural or raw salt cultivating district.
Sources said, around 5,000 salt farmers are cultivating salt on 15,000 hectares of land on different salt flats in Banshkhali's coastal belt areas now.
Among the farmers, farmers some are cultivating salt on their own lands while the other farmers are cultivating salt after taking the land as lease either directly from owners of the lands or through middle men. Local administration sources said a huge quantity of lands are being used for salt cultivation in Banshkhali this year.
Sadek Mia, a salt farmer said that they use to cultivate salt between November and June every year. "We get our livelihoods from salt cultivation," he mentioned.
Abdus Salam, another salt farmer said, "At first we prepare salt flat on the cultivable lands and then place polythene sheets on it to make the salt bed. Later, we preserve the sea water on the bed and dry it under the open sky in a few days (3/4 days). Then the air absorbs the water leaving salt on the bed. In this way, we prepare the natural salt."
Talking to this correspondent recently, another farmer Salah Uddin, said: "We use to supply the raw salt to the salt factories. The salt is refined at the factories and then iodine is mixed with the refined salt. After that, the factories prepare the edible salt and pack the daily necessary commodity for selling the same to markets."
General Secretary of Salt Workers Union at Banshkhali Mostafa Ali said, "We have supplied huge salt to the salt factories in different parts of the country this year and also in the last year. But, the farmers and labourers are not getting the proper prices for their produce. We are selling 2 (two) maunds of salt for Tk580 to Tk600 in the wholesale market this year. But, we sold the same quantity of salt at a rate of Tk 200-220 last year during the coronavirus outbreak."
Talking with The Financial Express, salt farmers of Banshkhali called upon the government to stop import of salt from neighbouring countries, especially from India, to ensure that the local farmers get proper price for their produce.
Besides Chattogram and Cox's Bazar, salt is also cultivated in a few other districts, mainly in coastal ones.
Sources said, the country produced more than 1.8 million (18.24 lakh) metric tonnes of salt against a demand of over 1.6 million (16.57 lakh metric tonnes) last year.
According to Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), there are 213 salt centres across the country.
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