Staff Reporter :
During this peak Boro season, farmers engaged in planting saplings are increasingly expressing their concerns over the rising costs of essential agricultural inputs.
The prices for fertilizers, seeds, and insecticides have surged, alongside significant increases in irrigation and labor costs, placing a heavy burden on the agricultural community.
This issue resonates across the region, with farmers in neighboring India and Pakistan also voicing similar concerns about the agricultural challenges they face, particularly in securing fair pricing against their production costs.
Indian farmers are currently protesting for fairer prices for their produce, claiming they are being deprived of rightful earnings.
In Bangladesh, farmers are making their voices heard, demanding fair prices for their produce, which is often eroded by the margins taken by middlemen. Achieving food autarky remains a critical challenge for the country.
Experts argue that self-sufficiency is essential to reduce the dependency on imports for various crops. However, they caution that if production costs continue to rise unchecked and farmers are unable to secure fair profits, the entire agricultural sector could become vulnerable.
Despite the government’s assurances of an adequate supply of agricultural inputs, farmers report difficulties in purchasing these materials due to inflated costs, exacerbated by inflation. In various districts of Bangladesh, including Bogura, Dinajpur, Jamalpur, Habiganj, and Sylhet, the rising cultivation costs are a significant concern. Compared to the previous year’s costs of Tk 14,000 to Tk 15,000 per bigha (a unit of land measurement), current expenses have escalated to Tk 18,000 to Tk 19,000, imposing an additional burden of Tk 4,000 to Tk 5,000.
The scarcity of agricultural laborers has further aggravated the situation, leading to a spike in labor costs. In places like Noakhali, labor costs have jumped from Tk 400 to Tk 500 to Tk 800 to Tk 1000, further straining the financial capacities of farmers.
Despite district administrations’ assurances about fertilizer availability, the ongoing rise in input costs continues to worry farmers. The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has ambitiously set a target of 50.40 lakh hectares for Boro cultivation, but the increasing costs present a significant challenge to meeting this goal, threatening the livelihoods of millions of farmers across the region.
Farmers’ representatives are calling on authorities to take action to curb the rising costs of agricultural inputs, emphasizing the crucial role farmers play in maintaining the domestic food supply chain. They stress the importance of ensuring fair prices for agricultural produce to maintain farmers’ motivation and sustain the agricultural sector.