At the end of the season, cabbage is selling for Tk 5 a head in Birampur, Dinajpur. Farmers are counting losses, but the low price has brought relief to ordinary buyers.

On the morning of 31 March, cabbages were seen piled up at the roadside in the Deshma Hat area of the upazila, selling for Tk 5 each.

The seller, Anwar Hossain, lives in the Habibpur area of Birampur municipality.

Anwar Hossain said he grew cabbage on about a bigha of land late in the season, hoping for a better price. But the cabbage has now become a thorn in his side, and he has to sell it at a token price, sometimes Tk 5 and sometimes Tk 6-7 each. He said he will lose Tk 10,000-20,000.

Inquiries found that vegetables have been grown on 1,280 hectares in the upazila this season, including cauliflower on 3.28 hectares and cabbage on 4.18 hectares.

A buyer, Abdur Rahim, said: "I bought four cabbages for Tk 20, at Tk 5 each. It is hard to find anything cheaper in the market these days. How good it would be for us if all vegetables were priced like this."

A farmer named Aslam said: "With vegetable prices in the market as they are, it has become hard for us to get by. If you come with Tk 500, the bag does not even fill. Still, we have to struggle on."

Birampur upazila agriculture officer Zahidul Islam said the area grows more vegetables than it needs. After meeting local demand, vegetables are sent to different parts of the country.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.