High yield of jute fails to make farmers in Rangpur happy as they are facing huge trouble to rot and process raw jute in absence of adequate water in local water bodies (Beels), canals and ponds.
Farmers said if the ongoing water crisis continues, they will have to count huge losses this year as quality fibres cannot be extracted without properly rotting.
While visiting some places in the districts, many of the farmers are seen piling up the jute plant bundles on their lands and are waiting for the rainfall.
According to the DAE Rangpur, around seventy thousand farmers have brought some 53,767 hectares of land under jute cultivation in five districts of Rangpur agricultural zone this year targeting to produce around 6,63,454 bales (1 bale- 181.47 kg) while 51,627 hectares of lands were brought under the farming in last year.
The district-wise break- up of the cultivation includes- 9,440 hectares in Rangpur, 14,313 hectares in Gaibandha, 6,611 in Nilphamari, 17,895 hectares in Kurigram, and 3,995 hectares of land in Lalmonirhat district.
The harvesting has been completed in some 29, 338 hectares of land in the districts till last week
Habibullah Miah, 55, of Nabdigonj village under Rangpur Sadar said farmers sow the jute seed at the end of March and complete the harvesting by the end of July.
He cultivated jute on some 10 bighas of land this year while it was 8 bighas last year. He has almost completed harvesting and failed to rot the plants due to the absence of rainfall for almost two weeks. He has piled up the jute bundles on the land and is waiting for the rainfall.
Salim Miah, 55, of Godha village under Kishoreganj upazila of Nilphamari district said, the farmers have been facing difficulties finding insufficient water in canals and water bodies to rot the plants. He has cultivated jute on five bighas of land. He has just processed one bigha’s plant by ribbon rating measures but the jute sticks have been damaged. He is waiting for rainfall to process the rest of the plants. If there will be no rainfall within two or three days, he has to incur a huge loss in farming.
Nasir Uddin, 45, at Bakbandha village at Rowmari upazila under Kurigram district said he has cultivated jute on five bighas of land spending Tk 60,000 this year. He is expecting to get at least 45-50 maunds of production. He got Tk 2,000-2,500 selling per maund of the crop at the initial market of the last year. He hopes to get more profit this year. He has completed the harvesting but failed to rot half of the jute plants due to the absence of rainfall. He is anxious to get back his investment.
Badsha Miah, 50, a farmer at Mohidebpur village under Gongachara upazila of Rangpur district said, he had to spend an additional cost of Tk 3000/ to carry the jute plants’ bundle to faraway places in the Teesta River channel for processing the plants.
Deputy Director, Directorate of Agricultural Extension, Rangpur Obaidur Rhaman said, the department targeted to produce the crop on some 53,757 hectares of land in the region this season while the farmers cultivated the crop on 52,254 hectares of land.
Farming is very cost-effective and eco-friendly. The farmers usually get the benefit to cultivate the crop. But this year due to inclement weather farmers are facing trouble to rot and process the jute plants. We have no hands-on nature. Our field-level officers are suggesting the farmers process the plants using a ribbon rating system if the absence of rainfall continues for more days.
Regional Director, Bangladesh Jute Research Institute, Rangpur, Dr Abu Fazal Mollah said, jute was cultivated abundantly on flat lands once in the region. The cropping had past glory and made a significant contribution to the national economy. The glory was lost for different reasons. The farmers are cultivating other crops instead of jute on the lands and getting benefits. So, farming has decreased in the region.
Jute is being cultivated on fallow lands in the region at present. We are encouraging the farmers to go for cultivation massively as it proves lucrative.
The farmers, however, can get more profit to produce High Yielding Variety [HYV] of jute. We have prepared many exhibition plots for the farmers in this regard.
Senior Coordinator of Agriculture & Environment RDRS Bangladesh, Mamunur Rashid said, the farmers start harvesting the plants when the rainwater enters the jute field during the monsoon. The plants need to be rotten for at least three weeks in the water to get the best quality fibre. But the absence of rainfall in the region even in monsoon made the farmers frustrated. If the situation continues, the farmers would have to incur huge losses as quality fibres cannot be extracted without proper rotting, he apprehended.
The farmers can also adopt the manual ribbon rating method to extract the jute fibre in inclement weather. We need to make the manual ribbon rating method familiar and popular among farmers as it is very cost-effective.
The private entrepreneurs and large-scale farmers can use machines to help the marginal farmers under cooperative management to extract the jute fibre, he added.
