UNB, Faridpur :
Thanks to favourable weather conditions and increased cultivation, jute farmers of Faridpur are set to witness a bumper year for jute production in 2017-18. According to farmers and the district branch of the Jute Research Institute, at least 902,151 bales of jute (1 bale=180kg) will be produced this year – the highest in at least seven years.
Faridpur is known as ‘the Land of the Golden Fibre’, where jute is grown in 8 of the district’s 9 upazilas. And it is increasing, with potential to increase even further. The area of farmland on which jute is grown has gone up by over 7000 hectares in the last seven years, leading to increased production.
This year jute is being cultivated on some 82,865 hectares – more than any other crop – and farmers are expecting to surpass the 902,145 bales produced in 2016-17, when it was cultivated on 82, 050 hectares.
Sources at the Jute Research Institute’s Faridpur office said the farmers cultivated two varieties – the Indian Tossa JRO-524, which accounts for 90 percent of the crop, and the domestic Mesta O-9897, that covers the rest.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension, jute was cultivated on 75,968 hectares of land in Faridpur in the 2010-11 fiscal, producing 873,053 bales of the crop that year. Production fell however, in the next financial year (2011-12) to just 617,022 bales, despite cultivation rising to 77,190 hectares. That possibly led to cultivation being pared back again in 2012-13 to just 71, 483 hectares, but production rose impressively to 820,0812 bales.
In 2013-14, some 686,439 bales of jute were produced in Faridpur from 74,396 hectares of land in 2013-14, followed by 673,470 bales in 2014-15, from 74,086 hectares of land. The 2015-16 fiscal saw production rise again to 733,490 bales from 72,o03 hectares of land.
As can be seen from the figures, production and cultivation have both varied greatly from year to year. Therefore if the farmers’ expectations for the crop are met for the current fiscal, it would represent an important steadying of their livelihoods as production and cultivation both will have stayed almost the same, with a slight increase acting as the incentive.
Farmers said they start jute cultivation towards the end of Choitro, the last month of the Bengali calendar, and the start of Boishakh, that heralds the Bengali New Year (a period coinciding with April in the Gregorian calendar), and cut and collect jute from the land in the Asharh-Srabon months (mid-June to mid-August).
They explained their preference for cultivating jute during these months typified by heavy rainfall as the monsoon visits Bangladesh. Unlike other crops, jute is capable of sustaining itself in the rainy season when fields are often waterlogged. Indeed, jute needs plain alluvial soil and standing water to thrive. It is said to require 5-8cm of rainfall weekly, and “more during the sowing time”.
In Boalmari upazila farmers said despite bumper production last year, they ended up counting losses as they did not get a fair price. This year though, they believe the government is more sensitive to their needs and keen on the potential of jute. As a result they are far more optimistic about getting a fair price.
At the famed jute market of Satoirbazar in Boalmari, jute traders Kamrul Islam, Khandakar Nasirul Islam, Liakat Hossain and others told our correspondent that the top-grade jute at the market is selling for Tk 2000-2300 per maund, and the second-grade for Tk 1800-1900 per maund. The lowest grade sets them back by Tk 1600 per maund. A maund is equal to about 82 pounds, or 37 kg.
Kanaipur is another famous jute market in the district. Traders there raved about the special quality of the jute fibre of this region that makes it the best in the country, and famous all over the world. It is what brings traders from all over the country to Faridpur to buy jute. Most of the jute collected for trade by the government comes from Faridpur, they added.
Jute fibres are first extracted by a process called retting, which consists of bundling jute stems together and immersing them in slow running water. Poritosh Kirteenia, a jute farmer in Dhulpukuria village in Boalmari upazila, said retting becomes difficult in times of water scarcity. This year though, the rainfall has been adequate and farmers expect no such problems. “So we are hopeful of getting the best colour this year,” added Poritosh.
The farmer said that if the government takes steps to ensure the fair price of jute, alongside initiatives to introduce modern methods of retting, it can herald a revolution in jute cultivation.
GM Abdur Rauf, deputy director of Faridpur Agriculture Extension Department, said they have been suggesting farmers switch to the ribbon retting method that uses less water, but failed to garner a positive response from them.
“Faridpur is the most fertile land for jute cultivation due to its climate. If the farmers are guaranteed a fair price, they will definitely be encouraged to cultivate and produce more jute,” Abdur Rauf agreed.
Md Siddiqur Rahman, a senior vice-president of Faridpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, reiterated Faridpur’s fame in jute production. “For this reason, many jute mills have been established here in the private sector that create job opportunities for thousands,” he said.
Siddiqur added that everyone stands to benefit if the government takes steps to expand the industry centred around the Golden Fibre in Faridpur.
Thanks to favourable weather conditions and increased cultivation, jute farmers of Faridpur are set to witness a bumper year for jute production in 2017-18. According to farmers and the district branch of the Jute Research Institute, at least 902,151 bales of jute (1 bale=180kg) will be produced this year – the highest in at least seven years.
Faridpur is known as ‘the Land of the Golden Fibre’, where jute is grown in 8 of the district’s 9 upazilas. And it is increasing, with potential to increase even further. The area of farmland on which jute is grown has gone up by over 7000 hectares in the last seven years, leading to increased production.
This year jute is being cultivated on some 82,865 hectares – more than any other crop – and farmers are expecting to surpass the 902,145 bales produced in 2016-17, when it was cultivated on 82, 050 hectares.
Sources at the Jute Research Institute’s Faridpur office said the farmers cultivated two varieties – the Indian Tossa JRO-524, which accounts for 90 percent of the crop, and the domestic Mesta O-9897, that covers the rest.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension, jute was cultivated on 75,968 hectares of land in Faridpur in the 2010-11 fiscal, producing 873,053 bales of the crop that year. Production fell however, in the next financial year (2011-12) to just 617,022 bales, despite cultivation rising to 77,190 hectares. That possibly led to cultivation being pared back again in 2012-13 to just 71, 483 hectares, but production rose impressively to 820,0812 bales.
In 2013-14, some 686,439 bales of jute were produced in Faridpur from 74,396 hectares of land in 2013-14, followed by 673,470 bales in 2014-15, from 74,086 hectares of land. The 2015-16 fiscal saw production rise again to 733,490 bales from 72,o03 hectares of land.
As can be seen from the figures, production and cultivation have both varied greatly from year to year. Therefore if the farmers’ expectations for the crop are met for the current fiscal, it would represent an important steadying of their livelihoods as production and cultivation both will have stayed almost the same, with a slight increase acting as the incentive.
Farmers said they start jute cultivation towards the end of Choitro, the last month of the Bengali calendar, and the start of Boishakh, that heralds the Bengali New Year (a period coinciding with April in the Gregorian calendar), and cut and collect jute from the land in the Asharh-Srabon months (mid-June to mid-August).
They explained their preference for cultivating jute during these months typified by heavy rainfall as the monsoon visits Bangladesh. Unlike other crops, jute is capable of sustaining itself in the rainy season when fields are often waterlogged. Indeed, jute needs plain alluvial soil and standing water to thrive. It is said to require 5-8cm of rainfall weekly, and “more during the sowing time”.
In Boalmari upazila farmers said despite bumper production last year, they ended up counting losses as they did not get a fair price. This year though, they believe the government is more sensitive to their needs and keen on the potential of jute. As a result they are far more optimistic about getting a fair price.
At the famed jute market of Satoirbazar in Boalmari, jute traders Kamrul Islam, Khandakar Nasirul Islam, Liakat Hossain and others told our correspondent that the top-grade jute at the market is selling for Tk 2000-2300 per maund, and the second-grade for Tk 1800-1900 per maund. The lowest grade sets them back by Tk 1600 per maund. A maund is equal to about 82 pounds, or 37 kg.
Kanaipur is another famous jute market in the district. Traders there raved about the special quality of the jute fibre of this region that makes it the best in the country, and famous all over the world. It is what brings traders from all over the country to Faridpur to buy jute. Most of the jute collected for trade by the government comes from Faridpur, they added.
Jute fibres are first extracted by a process called retting, which consists of bundling jute stems together and immersing them in slow running water. Poritosh Kirteenia, a jute farmer in Dhulpukuria village in Boalmari upazila, said retting becomes difficult in times of water scarcity. This year though, the rainfall has been adequate and farmers expect no such problems. “So we are hopeful of getting the best colour this year,” added Poritosh.
The farmer said that if the government takes steps to ensure the fair price of jute, alongside initiatives to introduce modern methods of retting, it can herald a revolution in jute cultivation.
GM Abdur Rauf, deputy director of Faridpur Agriculture Extension Department, said they have been suggesting farmers switch to the ribbon retting method that uses less water, but failed to garner a positive response from them.
“Faridpur is the most fertile land for jute cultivation due to its climate. If the farmers are guaranteed a fair price, they will definitely be encouraged to cultivate and produce more jute,” Abdur Rauf agreed.
Md Siddiqur Rahman, a senior vice-president of Faridpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, reiterated Faridpur’s fame in jute production. “For this reason, many jute mills have been established here in the private sector that create job opportunities for thousands,” he said.
Siddiqur added that everyone stands to benefit if the government takes steps to expand the industry centred around the Golden Fibre in Faridpur.
