Low Aman price upsets growers in two northern districts
After a bout of loss over Boro paddy, farmers in two northers districts are now counting losses with Aman too as existing market price of the early varieties are not even close to what they spent during production.
One maund of Aman paddy is on sale at Tk 400 to Tk 430 at different locals markets whereas the production cost was no less than Tk 500, said farmers in Thakurgaon and Lalmonirhat.
Boro season spreads over four months from the end of February every year while Aman season starts in August. The harvesting process is currently on.
Ill-fated farmers are in a soup as most of them had taken loans with an aim to recoup the losses they had incurred in recent past over Boro.
Satyandranath Barman, a farmer of Farabari village in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila, laments, “I lost my savings during the last two Boro seasons. Later, I cultivated Aman by taking loans with a hope to make profit. But I am incurring loss this time too.”
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Thakurgaon, this season Aman paddy was cultivated on about 1.37 lakh hectares with a production target of 4.38 lakh tonnes.
The cost has been assessed by counting expenditures for labourers, fertilisers, pesticides and other farming tools.
“Taking these factors in, we can say that a farmer has to spend over Tk 500 for producing one maund of Aman paddy,” Thakurgaon DAE Deputy Director (DD) Mohammad Aftab Hossain said.
While visiting different markets in the district recently, this correspondent found farmers selling their produces at Tk 400 Tk 430 per maund.
“I cultivated Aman paddy on two bighas. I had spent Tk 500 to Tk 550 to produce each maund. But I sold the produce at Tk 350 to Tk 380 a maund about two weeks ago,” said Hekmat Ali, a farmer of Dakkhin Boikanthapur village in Sadar upazila.
Mohammad Asaduzzaman, a paddy trader at Motherganj Haat in the upazila, said, “We are buying Aman paddy at Tk 400 per maund.”
Similar grim picture was found in Lalmonirhat.
Aman paddy were sowed on 85,290 hectares of land with a target of getting 3,88,422 tonnes of grains this season, according to Lalmonirhat DAE office.
Of the land, 15 percent was used for the early varieties that are in the harvesting phase at present.
“Farmers had to spend Tk 486 to produce each maund of Aman paddy,” Lalmonirhat DAE DD Bidhubhushon Roy said.
Visiting different local markets, our Lalmonirhat correspondent found farmers selling each maund of Aman paddy at around Tk 350.
Farmer Azahar Ali of Dalgram village in Kaliganj upazila said, “I had to spend around Tk 480 for each maund. But now I have to sell them at Tk 350.”
“Prices of fertiliser, pesticides and labourers have increased greatly while paddy prices are on the decline. We are upset and frustrated,” he told this paper.
DAE DD Bidhubhushon said, “Farmers are upset as they are incurring huge losses. They might lose interest in paddy cultivation in near future if situation continues like this.”
Our Thakurgaon and Lalmonirhat correspondents contributed to the report.
Comments