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Farmers in Magura district are losing interest in jute cultivation as they are not getting enough water for retting raw jute due to lack of rainfall.
They said rivers and canals have been dried up due to scanty rain and they are being forced to rot jute in the ponds which may affect the quality of jute fibre.
Many farmers are being forced to carry their harvested plants to other areas in hopes of finding suitable water bodies which have increased production costs.
Visiting different areas of the district, the UNB correspondent found that after the Boro paddy harvest, many lands are lying uncultivated and jute have been cultivated on a small scale.
Talking to UNB, some farmers said farmers are not showing interest in jute cultivation for various reasons including not getting the expected price, scanty water and increased production costs.
In Shalikha upazila, some farmers were seen spending a busy time with jute on the banks of rivers, canals or ponds, some are extracting jute fibre from the sticks, some are washing jute and some are taking jute bales to home.
Fasiar Mollah, a farmer of Gangarampur union, said, “This year, I have sown jute on six acres of land, the yield has been good, more than half of the jute has been harvested, which has been kept in the nearby river for rotting.”
Nazrul Mollah, a farmer of Pukuria village in Arpara union, said, "I have cultivated jute on five bighas of land. I will sow jute on more bighas of land next year if I get a good price excluding the cost of irrigation, retting and washing."
According to Shalikha upazila agriculture office sources, jute has been cultivated on 3,950 hectares of land this year, where the target was 3,935 hectares. Jute has been sown on 15 hectares more land than the target.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Alamgir Hossain said jute farmers are facing problems this year due to a lack of adequate rainfall, but if jute is rotten in the ribbon-retting system, the colour and quality of jute fibre will be good on the one hand and the cost will be less on the other hand.
"In order to encourage farmers to cultivate jute, our department is giving advice as well as giving various trainings on farming,” he said.
