Sugarcane cultivation increases in Thakurgaon

Sugarcane cultivation is increasing in Thakurgaon district as farmers have again become interested in sugarcane cultivation.

This season sugarcane cultivation has almost doubled in the district. However, the sugar mill authorities hope that the production and cultivation of sugarcane will increase further.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Thakurgaon district office sources, in FY 2018-19 the sugar mills used 61,760 tonnes of sugarcane to produce sugar.

In FY 2019-2020, sugarcane cultivation had reduced to 53,879 tonnes due to rumours that the sugar mills will close down. In 2020-21, the harvest was some 50,000 tonnes. In the last FY, the harvest came down further to about 36,000 tonnes of sugarcane.

General Manager (Agriculture) of Thakurgaon Sugar Mill Abu Raihan said the farmers have cultivated sugarcane twice as much as last year. He said that the sugar mill has its own land of 727 hectares.

Currently, there are around 3,000 farmers in the district cultivating sugarcane on 2,000 hectares of land.

According to farmer Akbar Ali of Rahimanpur union of Sadar upazila, the cost of planting sugarcane on one bigha of land is about Tk 8,000 and threshing costs about Tk 30,000-35,000.

“Sugarcane usually sells for Tk 1 per piece. If the yield is good, it is profitable to farm sugarcane,” he said.

Farmers Rafiqul Islam and Hari Mohan Barman of Salandar and Debipur unions said farmers were leaning towards cultivating other crops but they have returned to sugarcane farming again.

The farmers also said if the government increases the quota in this sector, more people in the district will be interested in sugarcane cultivation.

Managing Director of Thakurgaon Sugar Mill Shahjahan Kabir said, “We are trying to convince the farmers that they can benefit by producing sugarcane. We are supporting the farmers by supplying fertilisers and pesticides.”