Rot and a range of diseases have broken out in the vineyards that grow Rajshahi's sweet betel leaf (paan), sold across the country. Growers say spraying pesticides on their own has not stopped it and they are losing money. Betel is grown on a large area in Durgapur, Bagmara, Mohanpur, Puthia and Tanore upazilas and in other parts of the district.
Small growers say that for several years rot and new, unfamiliar diseases, fertiliser that arrives late and the rising cost of pesticides and other inputs have cut into their earnings. Betel is priced by the size, shape and look of the leaf, so diseased leaves fetch less, yet many families live all year on what their betel brings in.
Babar Ali, a grower in Mirpur village, Durgapur, said the bad weather was causing diseases he had never seen before, and identifying and treating them was adding to his costs. Abir Ahmmed, another grower in Puthia, complained that agriculture officers are hard to find in the field and do not visit the vineyards, so growers do not get the advice they need.
Joynal Abedin, who has run a betel wholesale business at Daokandi in Durgapur for more than two decades, said that in Rajshahi's wholesale market 64 leaves make one bira and 32 biras make one powa. A powa now sells wholesale for Tk 2,800 to Tk 3,600. Two months ago a bira sold for Tk 30-35; it is now Tk 45-50, and good leaf Tk 100-120. Prices still need to rise further, he said, for growers to cover costs and make a profit.
Mostafa Kamal Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Rajshahi, said he had visited betel vineyards in Tanore and Mohanpur and found no problem. Mites, foot rot and leaf blight occur from time to time, he said, but he had not heard of any new disease; his field officers were working in the field all the time and helping growers, and the complaints were not true.
The report is by Krishi Shomoy's Rajshahi correspondent.
Photo: Pamri / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Source: Krishi Shomoy
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