Jute acreage in Bangladesh has increased this season as growers expanded cultivation, encouraged by better prices after last year's harvest, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

Preliminary estimates by the DAE show that jute cultivation edged up 2 per cent to 7.45 lakh hectares in the current season, up from 7.29 lakh hectares previously.

"Interest among our field-level officials to grow the natural fibre increased after the government declared jute as the agricultural product of the year," said a senior official of the DAE, adding that farmers are trained to grow the required seeds.

Another reason for the higher interest in farming jute could be that prices were higher last year.

However, the overall acreage and yield may drop in the final count as many growers sow jute only to sell its leaves as vegetables, the DAE official said.

Khondokar Alamgir Kabir, a leading raw jute exporter, differed with the estimate of increased acreage.

"Cultivation has declined in the southwest and western districts as many farmers switched to maize and other crops because of scanty rainfall last season," he said.

However, acreage has not dropped in central districts, namely Faridpur and the north-eastern division of Mymensingh.

"So, the yield may be good in these regions but overall production may fall," Kabir added.

Mojibor Rahman, a farmer in Faridpur, a major jute producing district, said the heatwave affected the crop as plants only grew well in fields where they could irrigate.

Rahman got around Tk 3,500 per maund (37 kilogrammes) of top-grade jute during the initial months after harvest but the price fell later.

Now, the best quality jute is being sold at Tk 2,800 to Tk 2,900 per maund, said the grower who cultivated jute on 7 bighas of land this year.

Farmers grow jute, termed as golden fibre in the country, as a cash crop to cater to jute traders and jute millers, who mainly sell to international markets.

Growers bagged 84 lakh bales (one bale equals 180 kilogrammes) of jute in fiscal year 2022-23, up 0.3 per cent year-on-year, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Of the amount, over 10 lakh bales of jute were exported, which is higher than the shipment volume of the previous year. Of the rest, most were processed in local mills to make jute goods, such as sacks.

Arzu Rahman Bhuiyan, senior vice-chairman of the Bangladesh Jute Association, said the volume of raw jute exports grew despite the decline in total earnings from exports.

Bangladesh's earnings from jute and jute goods dropped 19 per cent to $912 million in the last financial year from $1,127 million the year prior, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.