Rubber industry suffers from low prices
Rubber cultivation started in Bangladesh during the 1980s. Photo: Mintu Deshwara
The rubber industry in Sylhet is facing tough times due to a continuous fall in prices.
As a result of their growing frustration, many plantation owners in the region are now even considering cutting down their rubber trees to make room for other plants.
According to Bangladesh Rubber Development Corporation, natural rubber is made by processing a milky liquid or latex that oozes from cuts made on rubber trees. Growers sometimes call it white gold .
Rubber cultivation started in Bangladesh during the 1980s. Since then, numerous public and private rubber plantations have been established on about 60,000 acres of land.
Nearly 500 families breathing easier after closure of polluting factory in Habiganj
The factory belongs to MAAR (Maize Advance Argo Refineries) Limited, a dry starch manufacturing company in Habiganj. Photo: Mintu Deshwara
Residents near Ekhtiyarpur canal in Madhabpur upazila of Habiganj can now finally breathe a sigh of relief after a factory in the vicinity was shut down for polluting the environment with industrial waste.
There have been several incidents of people falling ill due to the stench from the pollution of Maar Limited s factory, which used to dump industrial waste in the canal that connects with Balbhadra, Kanai, Khasti and Meghna rivers, said Abdul Qayyum, a resident of the area.
The nor wester and accompanying heat wave that swept over the country on Sunday massively damaged Boro paddy in both plain and haor areas of at least seven districts in northeast and southern divisions, dampening hope for increased production of rice and decline in prices to ease pressure on low income people s budget.
This year, farmers cultivated Boro paddy on 48.83 lakh hectors of land, 3 per cent higher year-on-year, with agricultural officials expecting higher crop this harvesting season at a time when prices of the staple grain were higher.
In March, consumers in Dhaka had to count 27 per cent higher prices from that a year ago to buy one kilogramme of coarse rice at Tk 45, showed data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Fear grips indigenous families after recurring attacks on ancestral land
A betel leaf plant, creeping on a tree, still looks fresh with green young leaves although its stock was completely severed from its root in an attack on the garden, at Nunchhara Punji under Karmadha union in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar. Photo: Mintu Deshwara Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar
More than two weeks after the latest attack on an indigenous community and their betel leaf garden, the mainstay of their livelihood, at Nunchhara Punji in Karmadha union of Kulaura upazila, the authorities are yet to take any action against the offenders.
Unauthorised Commercial Poultry Farms Health, agri land at stake in Madhabpur upazila thedailystar.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thedailystar.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.