Faridpur jute growers in troubled waters amid pandemic
The jute growers in Faridpur, a top jute-producing district of the country, are in deep trouble due to a severe shortage of farm workers amid the ongoing shutdown enforced to curb the novel coronavirus disease outbreak.
Farmers feared less production as they are not being able to hire labourers to weed their land, and their woes have worsened with the growing pest attacks.
Jute, a fibre that can be spun into sackcloth, is a brand product of Faridpur and its branding slogan is ‘Sonali Ashe Bharpur, Bhalabasi Faridpur’ (which can roughly be translated as – we love Faridpur, an area full of golden fibre).
The farmers of the district have been cultivating jute from generations due to its fertile soil and favourable weather.
According to the District Agriculture Extension (DAE), this year some 82,996 hectares of land have been brought under jute cultivation and the farmers are expecting a good yield.
some five million farmers are involved in jute cultivation across the country. Many farmers who had switched over to other crop farming returned to jute productions amid its growing demand
Nurunnabi, a farmer of Kaichail union in Nagarkanda upazila, said, “This year, the jute yield looks to be very good. Now it’s time to weed our land but we don’t get any workers due to the coronavirus outbreak. Last year, I hired a worker at Tk 300 a day but now the workers who are available demanding Tk 600 a day - just double!”
Obaidul, another farmer, said, “It’s the high time for weeding jute field as pest has attacked the leaves of jute. Timely weeding is needed for their proper growth.”
Jute grower Ishak Khandaker fears that this year production cost will increase due to additional expenses caused by pest attacks.
Meanwhile, the farmers are demanding that fertiliser prices be slashed and fixing the minimum market price of per kg jute at Tk 2,500.
Kartik Chandra Chakraborty, a deputy director at Faridpur DAE, said, “This time, the farmers are facing problems due to shortage of workers as many farmers cultivated jute this year and they need workers to nurture their filed timely.”
Talking about the pest attack, he said, “It’s common… the jute farmers face trouble because of this. We’ve advised the farmers about the pest attack and distributed leaflets in this regard. We’ve extended our all-out support to the farmers.”
According to available information, some five million farmers are involved in jute cultivation across the country. Many farmers who had switched over to other crop farming returned to jute productions amid its growing demand.