MOULVIBAZAR, Dec31 : Chunarughat, a remote area in Habigonj district is well-known for sugarcane.

Sugarcane farming provides employment to a large number of people in the area. About eight per cent of poor farmers support their families depending on sugarcane farming.

Soil of the area as well as the climate is suitable for cultivation of sugarcane. Sugarcane is being cultivated on more than 18 thousand acres of land in the area.

Inspite of having such a vast resource of sugarcane, there is no initiative from any party or from the government to set up a sugar mill here for the greater interest of the local people.

The government had promised to establish a sugar mill in the area just after the liberation of the country, but the promise did not come true.

The local cultivators produce molasses from the juice of sugarcane in large scale.

According to an unofficial report, over 10,000 tons of molasses are being produced in the area which meet the demand of local markets in Sylhet region.

Molasses is being produced in almost every house in Raghunandan, Satchhari, Kalenga Rema and Shaltila.

But the molasses producers get no loan or any other help from any organisation. Almost every home of the villages have been turned into molasses manufacturing units.

According to the poor peasants of the villages sugarcane cultivation is more profitable than any other crop in the area. They get much money by producing molasses in every winter season.

However, if a sugar mill is established in the area the farmers could get higher prices of sugarcane.

A molasses trader has underscored the need for proper marketing system of sugarcane.

The local farmers urged the concerned agricultural authorities a number of times for help, but in vain.

Some people also expressed their opinion for setting up a sugar mill in the area.