Farmers in different areas of the country, especially those who cultivated jute early, have started harvesting their jute this season.
Officials of the department of agriculture extension said farmers in most of the areas were happy this year as they were getting satisfactory yield. They said that harvesting would go on in full swing for two to three weeks.
A number of farmers from different districts including Faridpur, Rajbari, Jhinaidah, Jessore and Pabna, however, expressed their anxiety over pest attack and water-logging in their fields that would decrease their production.
Farmers from other districts, on the other hand, reported that they had been facing scarcity of water for rotting their jute, resulting in delay in getting their harvest.
‘The problems would not affect in achieving our target of production as there would be rains soon. Besides, the department has been trying to popularise ‘ribbon retting system’ that needs less water for rotting jute barks,’ DAE deputy director at the cash crop wing, Moshleh Uddin Faruque, told New Age.
He said that the pest attack and water-logging occurred while the jute plants were quite grown up and would not affect the production.
‘Many farmers started jute harvesting in our area. But I am keeping my adult jute on field as there was severe crisis of water to rot the plants,’ said Mohammad Mohsin of village Ramraterpara in Rangpur district.
‘Jute yield is satisfactory in our area and we are eagerly waiting for heavy rains that would fill our ponds and ditches to rot the jute,’ he said.
Farmer Ananda Mohan of village Badalsho under Sailkupa upazila in Jhinaidah said he was frustrated as the lower parts of his jute went under water due to excessive rains in late June and early July that helped the jute plants to grow roots in the lower parts.
‘The production will decrease for growing such roots in the lower parts of the plants,’ he said.
‘The production of jute on my field will be almost half for the pest attack that ate the leaves and affected the plants’ growth,’ farmer Sheikh Omar Ali of village Kabirpur in Faridpur Sadar upazila said.
He said that nearly 50 per cent of standing jute in his area was affected by pest attacks.
Jute cultivation has nearly doubled this year from that of 2010, said DAE officials in Dhaka, adding that around 8.33 lakh hectares of land were brought under jute cultivation this year against their targeted jute cultivation on 7.5 lakh hectares. The area was around 4.8 lakh hectares last year.
The DAE estimates this year’s total yield of raw jute at 88.30 lakh bales, based on an assumed average production of 10.6 bales per hectare.
-With New Age input
