Staff Reporter :
The salt producers have become frustrated as the price of salt decreased to Tk 150 per maund (40 kg) from Tk 280 in three months ago.
They urged the government’s compensation to recover their investment in the salt this season.
The price of salt fell in the recent days became ACI Salt Limited, Mollah Salt and Madhumoti have stopped purchasing salt from the field level after the High Court ordered to seal their salt factories.
The estimated target of salt production in the current year was 16 lakh tonnes, but the output reached 18 lakh tonnes due to favorable environment. About 60 to 65 percent land of Chakaria Upazila are used for salt cultivation.
At present the farmers of Chakaria are in trouble with their salt as they could not sell sale salt for lower price. Many of them deposited salt under soil to sale it later in better price. However, Business Director of ACI salt Md Kamrul Hasan said, “We collect about 600 kg salt per day for our factory, but now we have to stop procuring salt as the High Court ordered to shut ACI salt factory.”
Abdur Rahman, a salt producer of Chakaria Upazila of the district said he sold per maund of salt at Tk 280 at the beginning of the season, but currently the price has come down to 150 per maund.
“I had to sell salt at low prices to repay the loan with interest taken from the brokers, he added” Rafique Ahmed, another salt producer of the upazila informed the correspondent that he started salt production by taking one acre of land as lease for Tk 30,000. But he has incurred a loss of Tk 1, 20,000 so far for low price.
The field-level brokers are applying different techniques to reduce the prices of salt for their own profit, he alleged.
Despite incurring heavy losses last year, the salt producers in the district were upbeat about profit this time. But the farmers are being deprived of fair prices as the big companies have halted salt procuring after the High Court order to shut their factories.
