Farmers in Thakurgaon have urged the government to continue providing incentives for them to cultivate jute and its seed as interest in the golden fibre is growing again.
Although Bangladesh is known as the land of golden fibre, most of its jute seed still comes from neighbouring India, with farmers often incurring losses due to poor-quality imported seed. To make the country self-sufficient in quality jute seed, a daylong “Jute Seed Grower Training 2025” was organized for 100 selected farmers of Thakurgaon Sadar upazila.
The training was jointly arranged by the Sadar upazila administration and the Thakurgaon office of the Department of Jute under the project “Improved Technology-Based Jute and Jute Seed Production and Extension (2nd Revised)”. It was held on Tuesday at the Sadar Upazila hall room.
Syed Faruk Ahmed, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, attended as chief guest and chief trainer, with Thakurgaon Sadar UNO Khairul Islam in the chair. Among others, District Agriculture Training Officer Shamima Nazneen, Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Nasirul Islam Rony, Dinajpur Jute Department official Asim Kumar Malakar and District Jute Development Officer Dilip Kumar Malakar spoke as trainers.
At the end of the session, guests handed over jute bags and certificates to selected farmers.
Trainers noted that jute is a high-value cash crop with strong economic potential. However, due to the scarcity of natural water bodies in Thakurgaon, traditional retting for fibre is difficult, making seed-focused jute cultivation particularly suitable for the district. They stressed that jute, being eco-friendly, should be promoted as an alternative to polythene and that both jute cultivation and jute product use must be expanded.
Participating farmers called for the continuation of government incentives, technical support and training for jute and jute seed production. They also urged the government to ensure access to modern retting technologies and guarantee fair prices for their produce.
