Betel leaf farmers have had a good yield this season, but failing to get fair prices in the market has left them in despair. The prices they are getting are deeply disappointing compared with production costs. Burdened with loans, rising costs and the lack of recognition of betel leaf as an agricultural product, they are in serious trouble.

In Barguna's six upazilas, betel leaf has been grown on 411 hectares this year. With favourable weather the yield has been bumper, but an abnormal fall in market prices has left growers deeply frustrated. Last year Cyclone Remal damaged betel vineyards on 184 hectares, cutting production by 736 tonnes, a financial loss of about Tk 11.5 crore.

Growers complain that the prices of fertiliser, pesticide and other inputs have risen several times over, while betel leaf is selling at a loss. Farmers who borrowed to cultivate are in difficulty, and many say that if prices stay like this, many will turn away from betel leaf next season.

In Heulibunia village in Barguna Sadar, evergreen betel leaves hung from jute-stick frames in the vineyards, with farmers and their whole families at work. A bumper crop should have brought joy, but their faces showed frustration. With low prices and dearer pesticide, they cannot hire labour. After repairing the vineyards damaged by Cyclone Remal, prices have collapsed, and loans taken from NGOs have become a thorn in their throats.

Haren Sadhu, a grower in his sixties, told Jago News: "I have been in this business for generations. Our household runs on this betel leaf. But for the last few years there has been no fair price, so we took loans from various NGOs and now we are running away from them. What we earned over so many years is all gone. I hoped prices would rise, but they did not. I appeal to the government to help us."

Another grower, Tipu Sultan, said: "Cyclones hit this area every so often and destroy our vineyards. Then we rebuild them again with hope. The government subsidises every crop, but betel leaf growers never get any help. I have heard betel leaf can be exported abroad, yet we cannot get a price for our leaf even in our own district."

Md Rahim, a grower in Heulibunia, said: "Growing betel leaf on one bigha cost me about Tk 1.5 lakh. Now, even selling it in the market, I cannot recover half. Creditors are pressing us, and we are going hungry or half-fed. There is no option now but to give up this occupation of our fathers and grandfathers."

Mehedi Hasan, a grower from Kumrakhali, said: "We grow betel leaf using modern methods, but we are not getting a fair price compared with our production costs. I contacted the agriculture department about this, and they assured me that if quality betel leaf is produced, it can be exported. I am now trying to do that."

Agriculturist Rathindra Nath Biswas, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Barguna, told Jago News: "This year betel leaf is grown in 3,604 vineyards in Barguna. We are encouraging growers to adopt modern betel leaf farming. Betel leaf is a very sensitive agricultural product, so our field-level officers are keeping track in every area. We are also working to ensure the betel leaf produced gets a fair price in the domestic market, and taking steps towards exports abroad."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.