The aman rice crop in Sherpur upazila of Bogura looks good this season, yet farmers are not pleased: production costs have risen and market prices are not covering them. Aman was planted on 22,460 hectares in the upazila this season. Some fields are colouring and others are still filling grain, and full harvesting is due within days.
Farmers said land preparation, seedbeds, transplanting, fertiliser and pesticide, irrigation, weeding, labour and fuel all cost more than last year. Growing a bigha of aman now costs about Tk 11,000 to 13,000, while paddy sells at Tk 1,100 to 1,200 a maund. With an average yield of 12 to 15 maunds a bigha, they say, the expected profit is hard to reach.
Many farmers are forced by need to sell soon after harvest and threshing, leaving little room to bargain. Traders buy the paddy cheaply, store it and sell when prices rise, while the farmer carries most of the risk of growing it.
Rashedul Haque of Khanpur union grew aman on 12 bighas. His crop is in good shape, he said, but he had to spray pesticide four times. If the government fixed a paddy price and let farmers sell directly to its warehouses, some profit would be possible; otherwise, he said, even repaying loans would be difficult.
Mahbubur Rahman of Khamarkandi village grew aman on eight bighas. Ploughing to bringing the crop home will cost about Tk 11,000 a bigha, he said, and without a fair price he will make a loss.
Sherpur upazila agricultural extension officer Zulfikar Haider said fields across the upazila were showing good yields and he hoped farmers would profit. The report is by Krishi Shomoy's Bogura correspondent.
Photo: Parvezahmed / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Krishi Shomoy
Comments
(0)