Md Amin Ullah Amin, Cox’s Bazar

Like every year, there has been a bumper harvest of betel nut in various areas of Ukhia Upazila of Cox’s Bazar this year too.
The garden owners are smiling after getting good prices for ripe betel nuts. The soil and weather in the southern part of Cox’s Bazar district are suitable for betel nut production.There is no house in this township that does not have a betel nut tree.There are also betel nut gardens spread over a vast area. Betel nut gardens are being planted in these crop lands and betel nut worth hundreds of crores of taka is being produced. Economic potential has emerged around this cash crop in Ukhia Upazila. People are becoming more interested in betel nut cultivation day by day due to the good market price of the produced betel nut. Betel nut markets are being held in various places including Sonarpara Bazar, Kot Bazar, Rumkhan Bazar, Ukhia Sadar, Bhalukia, Kutupalong in Ukhia Upazila. The betel nut produced here is being supplied to various places in the country after meeting the demand of the district. A visit to some markets showed that the sale and purchase of betel nuts produced in local gardens is going on in the market. This time the price of betel nuts is also favorable to the farmers. As a result, traders are supplying them to different parts of the country by meeting the demand of the locals. According to the agricultural office, betel nuts have been cultivated on 950 hectares of land in Ukhia upazila. An average of 1.88 metric tons has been produced on the cultivated land. As a result, a total of 1780 metric tons of betel nuts have been produced in the upazila this season.
Meanwhile, betel nut traders Mahbub Alam and Chhayed Alam of Rumkhan Dhurumkhali said that this year, each betel nut (80 pieces) is being sold for 280 to 350 taka depending on the quality.
Farmers said that they are getting more this year compared to the last few years. Upazila Agriculture Officer Nizam Uddin said that according to the field survey, betel nuts are cultivated on 950 hectares of land. The local market is selling at high prices, and the farmers are selling very happily. Agriculture officer Nizam Uddin said that the agriculture office is providing various suggestions to the garden owners.