Once neglected, jute sticks have now become a source of income – as they are being exported to countries, including China, due to growing demand in particle board and charcoal factories.

Jute growers in Faridpur district, who incurred losses this season due to low jute fibre prices, are now eying profits though selling jute sticks.

The farmers are expecting to earn over Tk 130 crore this season by selling jute sticks which were once used as firewood, fence for houses, and in betel-nut fields.

Atul Sarkar, deputy commissioner of Faridpur district, said, “Charcoal is produced after burning dried jute sticks. It is used in making firecrackers, carbon papers, ink for printers and photocopiers, batteries for mobiles, for cleaning teeth, fertilizers and many other things. So, demand for jute sticks is growing.”

During a recent visit to different parts of the district, including Saltha, Nagarkanda and Boalmari, this UNB correspondent found farmers busy in drying their jute sticks.

A number of jute growers including Firoz Molla, Habibur Rahman and Siraj Pramanik said they are now seeing a ray of hope in jute as they have been earning money by selling jute sticks for the last several years and a number of big companies are purchasing it from them.

Currently 100 bunches of jute sticks are being sold at Tk 500-600, which was Tk 400-500 last year, they said.

Due to inadequate rain this season, farmers of the district failed to rot their jute in time, resulted in poor production and low prices for the fibre, they said.

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According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), this year, a total of 87,475 hectares of land was used for jute cultivation, and they also hope the farmers would be able to sell jute sticks worth Tk 130 crore this season.

Delwar Hossain Sheikh, a jute stick trader of Lonkarchar in Boalmari upazila, said, “I purchased jute sticks worth Tk 1.5 crore to Tk 2 crore and sold those to particle board factories. Like me, many traders are doing this business.”

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Ziaul Haque, deputy-director of the DAE, said jute sticks worth Tk 15,000 are produced from a hectare of land, and this year the farmers can recover their losses by selling jute sticks.

Nazrul Islam, president of Faridpur Chamber and Commerce Industry, urged big companies to ensure reasonable price of jute sticks for the farmers.