Profitable betel farming sees rise in Jhenidah
Farmer Ramesh Chandra Das of Raigram village in Jhenidah's Kaliganj upazila has good reason to champion betel leaf. “From growing betel over the last 15 years I was able to build a five-room brick house with a sanitary latrine. I have bought five bighas of land and covered the cost of educating my son, who now studies in Class VIII.” Along with his family, Das has become accustomed to good news from betel growing. But this year, earnings have exceeded even his wildest expectations.
According to district farmers it costs about Tk 1.2 lakh per bigha to farm betel, including bamboo stakes, rope, fertilisers, labour and the coarse grass for the shade-roof of the enclosure in which the betel grows. At present 80 betel leaves, which make one “poon” in Jhenidah-speak, fetch up to Tk 140 at the market. If the weather remains favourable, an average farmer will earn up to Tk 3.5 lakh per bigha this year.
Arabinda Kumar Biswas, also from Raigram, is in such an enviable position. From his single bigha cultivated with betel he has already earned Tk 2 lakh. He hopes to double that before the end of peak season, should the helpful weather hold.
“I've made Tk 4.5 lakh so far this season,” says Abdul Aziz of Harinakundo upazila, who has cultivated two bighas of betel at a cost of Tk 2 lakh. “I hope for another Tk 2 lakh in sales before April.”
Aziz lists the benefits of betel: the crop is well-suited to local conditions, which makes for good farming; betel leaves are in demand in the market. “Besides,” he says, “I incurred huge losses on paddy cultivation in the past. Next year, I will cultivate four more bighas with betel.” Similar sentiments are echoed by neighbours Kartik Das, Swapan Das and Jogen Biswas.
Betel leaf trader Azizur Rahman of Jhenidah says that betel leaf is being exported, which has considerably increased both demand and prices. “It's the high prices that are the crop's allure for the farmers,” he says.
The Department of Agriculture Extension in Jhenidah reports that sweet betel leaf cultivation across the district has risen to 2,285 hectares in the 2015-16 season, up from 2,070 hectares the year before and 1,830 hectares two seasons ago.
This year, broad betel smiles can be found across the district, with success meaning different things to different people. “I incurred huge losses from low paddy prices in the past,” says Chansal Kumar Das of Singi village, “and my wife has suffered dysentery for years. Finally, because of betel, I was able to take her to India for good treatment and nowadays she also helps in tending our betel crop.”
“We used to live on flood prone land in Noakhali,” says Narayan Chandra Pal of Raigram. “When we first arrived in Jhenidah in 1968 we lived in a makeshift shack; but now we have a four room brick house and six bighas of land.” As long as the betel vines twist ever higher, it seems, so will the fortunes of Jhenidah's betel growers.
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