Village people once used to start their day with sugarcane juice during winter season. Men used buffalos to thresh sugarcane and women making molasses and others with sugarcane juice. The sweet smell of molasses found everywhere in the air.
In the course of time, modern diesel powered tractors have been added instead of buffaloes to thresh sugar cane.
The past tradition and culture of sugarcane threshing has vanished and modern agricultural machinery has introduced in the village of Mitipur on the banks of Manu river in the remote area of Rajnagar upazila of Moulvibazar district. Now the sugarcane farmers are threshing sugarcane with modern machinery instead of buffalo. Out of more than 100 families in Mitipur village, 15 to 16 families are now involved in sugarcane cultivation. The farmers collect sugarcane from the fields at dawn. They made juice by threshing it with a tractor before sunrise. Then they got busy selling juice, making molasses. Sugarcane juice cake, sweet cake and others are very popular in this winter morning.
Speaking to some farmers including Rajib Hossain and Siraj Miah, it is found that at once more than a hundred families of Mitipur village were involved in sugarcane cultivation. Now 15 families to 16 families are cultivating sugarcane to preserve their ancestral heritage. They said that many people are losing interest in sugarcane cultivation due to increased cultivation cost and lack of modern threshing equipment. Some families are struggling to survive.
Suruj Mia (85) from Mitipur village said,” I will uphold this ancestor job as long as I live, I don't know what the children will do next. They are now involved in another profession.”
Suruj Mia said,”He did not get any government assistance for sugarcane cultivation. Seven or eight years ago, a pair of buffaloes used to thresh sugarcane. Now the price of two buffaloes is over two lakhs. We are now using the traditional method of threshing. Instead of buffalo, I am using only diesel powered power machine for threshing. The cost of this method has also increased.”
Rajnagar Upazila Agriculture Officer Sheikh Iffat Ara Islam said sugarcane has been cultivated in five hectares of land in Rajnagar Upazila this year, the target has been set at 4.5 tonnes.
It costs Tk 30000 to Tk 35000 to cultivate sugarcane in one acre land. The profit is Tk 10000 to Tk 12000. Shiblu Mia, a sugarcane farmer, said that many people in the area would return to sugarcane cultivation if they get government patronage.
Meanwhile, the delegation along with local officials from Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute visited various sugarcane cultivation areas of the upazila. An exhibition will be set up in 33 percent of the area to increase sugarcane cultivation in the area. In order to increase sugarcane cultivation, more exhibitions will be extended..