200 floating seedbeds a season, each costing Tk 6,000 and selling for Tk 8,000–9,000

The beel land of Nazirpur and Nesarabad in Pirojpur stays underwater for most of the year. There, seedlings and vegetables are grown on floating beds (dhap) made from water hyacinth. Some people do not farm but build these beds and sell them to farmers.

According to a report in The Daily Star, one maker who builds beds on contract said each bed is about 90 feet long and five and a quarter feet wide, made by winding three layers of water hyacinth onto a bamboo frame. One bed needs the water hyacinth from an area of about 3,500 square feet. The work begins in mid-May, just before the water rises, and goes on for about four months. Farmers place orders before the season, and they build about 200 beds a season.

Each bed costs about Tk 6,000: Tk 1,500 for water hyacinth, Tk 3,500 for labour and Tk 1,000 for other things. It sells for Tk 8,000 to Tk 9,000. But water hyacinth could once be collected free; now landowners must be paid Tk 5,000–6,000 per bigha. Labourers get Tk 800–850 for a full day's work, with no shelter in the beel from sun or rain. The upazila agriculture officer said the floating-farming project ended two years ago, and support cannot be given unless a new project comes.