Rangpur Correspondent

In the current season, sugarcane cultivation target has not been achieved in 5 districts of Rangpur region in areas outside the mill zone.

It is to be noted that the target of cultivation of high yielding varieties of sugarcane in Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari districts of the country's impoverished Rangpur region in the area outside the mill zone in the current season was 1 thousand 948 hectares.

Due to various adversities there, sugarcane has been cultivated less than the target in 1 thousand 581 hectares of land.

Out of this sugarcane has been cultivated in 407 hectares in Rangpur, 805 hectares in Gaibandha, 185 hectares in Kurigram, 24 hectares in Lalmonirhat and 160 hectares in Nilphamari district. The Department of Agriculture Extension expects that 1 lakh 12 thousand 38 metric tons of sugarcane will be produced from these sugarcane fields in the current season.

It should be noted that sugarcane is one of the cash crops of the farmers of the poor and agricultural-dependent Rangpur region. Sugarcane cultivation by the farmers of this region has drastically reduced due to the shutdown of Shyampur Sugar Mill in Rangpur, Rangpur Sugar Mill in Mahimaganj, Setabganj Sugar Mill in Dinajpur and Panchagarh Sugar Mill, known as one of the heavy industries of the region for the past few years.

However, limited sugar production is being done in Thakurgaon Sugar Mill. As a result, the sugarcane farmers are in dire financial straits. Generally sugarcane is cultivated in two ways.

Common people use sugarcane with soft fibers for chewing. Apart from this, high yielding varieties of sugarcane are widely cultivated in the mill zone area. However, sugarcane cultivation in the mill zone area has drastically declined due to the shutdown of sugar mills in the region for the past few years.

In this situation, sugarcane farmers stopped sugarcane cultivation in the mill zone area but continued to cultivate sugarcane in the areas outside the mill zone to positively change their agriculture dependent socio-economic condition.

This is the reason why people habitually cultivate edible soft fiber sugarcane in various areas of Pirganj, Mithapukur, Badarganj, Taraganj, Gangachra, Kaunia and Pirgacha upazilas of Sadar Upazila of Rangpur, including Mominpur, Paglapir, Khalea, Haridebpur areas. According to the sugarcane farmers of these areas, the sugarcane yield has been good this season due to the favorable weather conditions in the region.

Along with that, the price of sugarcane is getting good. Sugarcane of different sizes is being sold at an average wholesale rate of Tk 15 to Tk 25 per piece. However, it is being sold at a higher price in the retail market.