55,000 taka of cost against 2.5 lakh of sales, and still no labour

This farmer in Maulvibazar has grown sugarcane for 35-36 years and for the last twenty has crushed it with a machine rather than a buffalo, milling neighbours' cane for hire as well as his own before boiling the juice down into gur and lali. Three kiyar planted this season cost about 55,000 taka; he has already sold around 100,000 taka worth and expects another 150,000. Juice sells at 60 taka a litre, gur at 250 taka a kg and lali at 220, so on the numbers the crop pays. What is closing the trade down is labour: he says nobody is available, and cutting cane takes at least three pairs of hands. Villagers say the fields that once lined both sides of the roads have largely gone.