As farmers start harvesting and threshing early varieties of Aman paddy in the northern districts, the fear looms that their profit could be negligible due to higher production costs than last year.
People who subsist on paddy farming in the country’s northern districts, namely Bogura, Joypurhat, Gaibandha and Dinajpur, are currently in a vulnerable situation due to their prolonged struggle to make a profit from the crop amid rising labour costs.
Paddy farmers in the northern districts have struggled to turn a profit for the past five years, as production costs have risen significantly but rice prices have not increased proportionally.