Poor jute prices in Nilphamari open floodgate of smuggling

Jute growers waiting for buyers for hours together at a market in Nilphamari, but in vain. Supply of jute is abundant in local markets in this peak harvesting season, but price is much below the production cost. Photo: Star

Lack of jute purchasing centre and absence of genuine jute trader have attributed to the situation.

People living in the border belt have revealed that many jute purchasing centres had been established on the other side of the border. Jute purchasers are supplying money through their channels illegally and doing good profit.

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At present jute is being sold in different local markets at Tk 190 to 250 per maund (37.5 kilograms) which is much below the production cost.

An elderly farmer of Itakhola village under Sadar upazila, Abul Hossen,65, expressed his utter frustration to The Daily Star as he had sold two maunds of jute at Tk 390 only. He said," our production cost for a maund of jute is Tk 300, but I got Tk 195 for a maund. How can we proceed forward?"

District Jute office sources told this correspondent that the government rate of jute was Tk 345 per maund (37.5 kg) for C-bottom variety, Tk 315 per maund for Cross-Bottom variety and Tk 287 per maund for SMR variety. But farmers got Tk 250 for a maund of C-Bottom, Tk 225-230 for a maund of Cross Bottom and Tk 190-210 for a maund of SMR variety.

"It is due to shortage of buyers" told Arindam Kumar Dhar, Chief Inespctor of the Department of Jute, Nilphamari.

This year only UMC Jute Mills celebrated their lucky purchase on August 5. But the mills management are yet to start their drive in full swing.

In absence of major buyers, brokers and middle men are purchasing jute from farmers at a very poor price.

"All the big jute mills have closed their purchasing centres keeping due a huge amount of money of traders for supplying jute in previous years." said Noor Hossen Sarkar a well-known jute trader of the town.

A number of jute traders disclosed that an amount of nearly one and a half crore taka remains unpaid to traders by different mills.

According to Deputy Director (DD) of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Nilphamari, Monwar Hossein, this year's jute production target was nearly one lakh fifty thousand bales from 1,40,00 hectares of land in six upazilas of the district. But the achievement was 90,000 bales from 10,000 hectares of land. Both production and cultivation of jute have declined, he said to this correspondent.

DD further told this correspondent that jute farmers were being deprived of fair price of their produce for the last 10 years. So, they have lost interest in jute cultivation.