Bumper betel nut yield in Cox's Bazar

Farmers in the district are all smiles this season as they reaped bumper crop of betel nuts.

Health department employee Abdul Hamid has a betel nut grove on two bighas of land in his coastal village of Sonarpara, and is happy that he harvested bumper crop.

Sonarpara is famous throughout the country for producing high quality betel nuts.

Abdullah Al-Mahmud, a trader from Teknaf, said he earned Tk 1.40 lakh so far from nuts produced on 30 decimals of land in his homestead. He expects to earn Tk 50,000 more by selling the rest.

Teknaf Bazar in Teknaf Sadar upazila, Shamlapur Bazar in Baharchhara, Naya Para Bazar and Sonarpara Bazar in Ukhia, and Fakira Bazar in Ramu Sadar are the big trading centres of betel nuts.

Trader Sadar Ahmed Kaalu in Sonarpara wholesale market said betel nut worth Tk one crore is traded on each day of the hat, which sits twice a week. Traders buy high quality betel nuts and send them to other districts and also export them, he added.

Wholesalers sell 80 betel nuts produced in Sonarpara for Tk 200 to Tk 220. Medium quality nuts are sold at Tk 150 to Tk 200 per 80 pieces.

Traders in the wholesale market at Teknaf Sadar send the nuts to wholesalers in different places of the country.

Faruk Ahmed and Rafiq Uddin Mahmud of Court Bazar said raw betel nuts are sold after being kept under water for about two months, adding that there is high demand for wet nuts in Cox's Bazar.

Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer at the district's Department of Agricultural Extension Ashish Kumar Dey said betel nut trees normally bloom in Ashar and Srabon and produce the nuts in Ashwin and Kartik.

Betel nuts are produced in almost all eight upazilas, but Ramu, Ukhia and Teknaf are very favourable for betel nut farming and most of the produce comes from there. 

Ashish said 3,400 hectares of land have been brought under  betel nut cultivation in the current season and about 27,000 people are directly involved in the farming. Around 1.36 lakh tonnes of betel nuts worth about Tk 272 crore are produced in the district every season.

First Vice President of Cox's Bazar Chamber of Commerce Abu Morshed Chowdhury Khoka said betel nut has a positive impact on the rural economy.