Faridpur, April 15 -- Once dubbed the "golden fibre" of Bangladesh, jute is increasingly becoming a source of concern for farmers in Faridpur due to soaring production costs and stagnant market prices.

Farmers in the district, which leads the country in jute production, say this year's expenses have surged by at least 30 percent, mainly due to adverse weather and a sharp increase in the prices of necessary inputs and labour.

In the previous season, a maund (approximately 37.3kg) of jute fetched between Tk 2,500 and Tk 2,800 at the farmer level. But, with production costs equalling or even exceeding this amount, growers barely broke even.

The hope for a profitable harvest remained out of reach, leaving many disheartened.

Now, with the ...