The price of one maund of paddy is 800 taka, the daily wage of the laborer is 900 taka
Photo Collected
The price of one maan of paddy is not equal to the price of one worker. The price of everything in the country increases. But the price of farmers’ rice does not increase. The cost of producing one maund of paddy is more than 1 thousand 200 taka, but it has to be sold for only 700 to 800 taka. Out of this, a laborer who cuts paddy has to pay 900 to 1 thousand taka for one day. Farmers are the most neglected, no one listens to our grief.” said the words of a farmer of Majlishpur area of Nikli upazila, Julhas Mia.
In the same tone, farmer Mojibur Rahman of Karimganj upazila said, ‘Farmers grow rice with such difficulty, the owners of mills and mills increase the price of rice by buying that rice cheaply. In this time of cheap rice, you still have to buy a 25 kg sack of rice for 1,400 to 1,500 taka. There is no price of rice, the price of rice is very high. If the farmer survives, the country will survive—policy makers should remember this.’
বিজ্ঞাপন
Farmers in Kishoreganj’s Haor area are expressing their disappointment for not getting fair price for Boro paddy. It has also created a fear of losing interest in rice cultivation in the future. Haor farmers often have to deal with natural calamities. On top of that, they suffer from frustration as they do not get fair prices even in good yield years.
Karimganj upazila’s leather port is the main center of paddy trade in Haor area. Every day thousands of maunds of paddy are bought and sold here. Paddy is supplied to the chatals of different districts of the country from here. At this time, about 40 boats are sitting in the port. Farmers packed wet and dry paddy in sacks and brought it to the wharf in big and small boats and sold it. The smugglers sent them in trucks to the drivers of Rajshahi, Naogaon, Chapainawabganj, Sherpur, Jamalpur and other districts.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Last Monday, it can be seen on the ground, rows of huts on the banks of Nagchinni river. Workers are lifting sacks on their heads from rice-laden boats anchored in the river. From there, rice is being sent by truck to different parts of the country. Malek Mia, a farmer who brought 300 bags of paddy from Itna Baribari Haor, said that this time he cultivated Bri-28, Bri-29 and hybrid diamond varieties of paddy in about seven acres of land. Bri-28 was affected by some diseases but yielded well in others. But he is disappointed not getting the price of rice. Dealers are offering the price of hybrid diamond paddy at 700 to 750 rupees. Forced to sell. He said, every year the price of paddy is low. But the price was not so low as this time.
Khokon Mia, a farmer of Niamatpur area, said that he has cultivated less land this time due to low profit. His Bri-29 variety of paddy has to be sold at Tk 700 to Tk 750 a maund, which is Tk 100 per maund less than last year. But production costs have increased. Farmer Kamrul Islam of Itna Sadar cultivated paddy on 15 acres of land. He said that even if 70 to 80 maunds of paddy are produced per acre, a lot of it is lost due to various expenses including dawal, threshing, transportation. In the end there is very little profit.
Farmer Abdul Haque said, one acre of land requires about seven thousand taka, labor cost six thousand, cultivation one and a half thousand, fertilizer three to four thousand, planting two to two and a half thousand, irrigation three to four thousand taka. After spending so much, at the end you have 6 to 7 thousand rupees. If the price of rice does not increase, the farmer has no choice but to die.
According to the sources of District Agriculture Extension Directorate, 1 lakh 68 thousand 262 hectares of land has been cultivated in Kishoreganj this year. Out of this, 1 lakh 4 thousand 535 hectares of land has been cultivated in Haor area. The production target is 12 lakh 95 thousand 29 metric tons of paddy, from which about 7 lakh 96 thousand 686 metric tons of rice will be available.
Deputy Director of Agriculture Extension Department Sadikur Rahman said, ‘Kishorganj is a food surplus district. There is about four and a half lakh metric tons of food surplus here every year. However, farmers complain that the price of rice is low. We will calculate the cost of production and send it to the ministry. We want farmers to get fair price for their hard earned crops. This time the farmers are smiling due to the good yield. Paddy harvesting has started for a week. But it will be cut in full next week. There will be an advice to the farmers, to cut the paddy of the land when 80% of it is ripe. It cannot be said that they may suffer due to hailstorm and early water.
Source: Prothom Alo Bangla
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