Catkin growers all smiles
Bumper yield of catkin, locally called kashia, this season has brought smiles to many farmers in Kurigram's Chilmari upazila as they are earning a handsome profit by selling the produce at good prices due to its high demand.
Usually, farmers do not cultivate or invest any money for producing the item as it is grown on char lands naturally.
Farmers said there are at least 10 wholesale catkin markets in the two districts, including seven in Kurigram and three in Lalmonirhat and catkin worth Tk 500 crore are traded in those markets every season.
Of them, Kurigram's Chilmari catkin market is considered as the largest one, where a good number local traders are involved with the catkin business.
The catkin markets are located in Kulaghat, Ghaterpar and Khatamari areas along the Dharla river in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, and Jatrapur, Mogholbasa, Jorgachh, Hatia, Bridgepar, Begumganj and Ramna areas beside the Brahmaputra river in Kurigram.
Many wholesale and retail traders from different areas across the country come to these catkin markets for buying catkin from the local traders and sometimes directly from the growers.
Trader Mizanur Rahman at Jorgachh Catkin Haat in Kurigram's Chilmari upazila said this year they are buying each bundle of catkin at Tk 18 to Tk 20 from the char farmers, and selling those at Tk 20 to Tk 22 to the buyers from different areas of the country.
They bought each bundle of catkin at Tk 13 to Tk 14 last year, Mizanur said.
Another trader Nazir Hossain at the same market said they buy catkin from farmers living in the Brahmaputra river basin areas and sell those to buyers from different areas of the country.
"Buying and selling of catkin is a seasonal trade and farmers earn a handsome profit from this business. Many betel leaf growers from Barishal, Rajshahi, Kushtia, Barguna, Jhalakathi, Meherpur and different other areas across the country pay us in advance for the catkin," Nazir added.
Mazidul Islam, a catkin trader at Ghaterpar Catkin Market in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, said he has been selling eight to ten trucks of catkin to the buyers from different areas every day.
Each truck can carry about 12,000 to 13,000 bundles of catkin, he said, adding that they purchase each bundle of catkin at Tk 18 to Tk 20 and sell it to the buyers at Tk 20 to Tk 22.
One of the buyers Saheb Ali Mandal from Rajshahi said like him many other buyers from different parts across the country come to the char villages along the Brahmaputra and Dharla rivers every year to buy catkin.
They purchase catkin from the local traders and carry the item by boats or trucks to different areas of the country, he said, adding that betel leaf growers across the country are its main buyers.
This year they are buying catkin at a high price as it has a good demand among the betel leaf growers, he said, adding the item has a market worth Tk 500 crore in the two districts.
According to Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Lalmonirhat and Kurigram, catkin is grown naturally on around 10,000 hectares of land at nearly 300 villages along the Brahmaputra and Dharla river basin areas under the two districts.
Around 15,000 farmers living in those char villages are getting benefit from selling catkins every year.
Kurigram DAE Deputy Director Biplab Kumar Mohanta said catkin is grown on sandy char lands in between June to October and harvested from the middle of December to end of January.
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