Beans worth about Tk 1.5 crore are bought and sold every day at the Muladuli Ambagan wholesale produce market in Ishwardi, Pabna. From 10am to 3pm the market bustles with buyers, sellers and commission agents. In other years, at the peak of the early bean season, beans worth Tk 2 to 2.5 crore changed hands daily, but repeated heavy rain this year damaged the early crop, and bean production is the lowest in 10 years.

At the market, trading was in full swing. Farmers were bringing beans in on hundreds of vans, power trolleys, auto-rickshaws, motorcycles and other vehicles. Bean traders, commission agents and businessmen were bargaining with growers over price according to the size of the beans. Every stall had heaps of beans, and with no room inside, sacks were being stacked around the market. Labourers were weighing and bagging beans, while others loaded sacks onto trucks.

Commission agents said that in other years 100 to 120 truckloads of beans leave the market each day at this time of year, but this year, with the lower yield caused by the natural disaster, 40 to 50 trucks are going to the capital and other divisional and district towns. At the start of the early season beans sold here at Tk 340 a kg; the current price is Tk 40-50. For a long time the price held at Tk 100-150, and it began falling a week ago. Although yields are down, the good prices mean farmers have made more profit than in other years.

Bean trader Abu Bakkar said that although arrivals are lower than usual, at least 1,000-1,200 tonnes still come into the market, and 50 to 60 truckloads go to different parts of the country. Farmers are happy because the price is good: they sold at Tk 340 a kg at the start, and the price is now close to Tk 40, whereas in other years it is at most Tk 10 a kg at this time.

Sujan Sheikh, owner of Alam Traders and son of the market's founder Alam Bhandari, said that despite lower production in Ishwardi this year, beans worth at least one to one and a half lakh taka are traded every day. For two days beans have sold at about Tk 40 a kg, and at least 1,200 tonnes arrive at the market, which on that basis means beans worth about Tk 1.5 crore are traded.

Ishwardi upazila agriculture officer Mita Sarkar told Jagonews that early bean growers began selling at the start of the season and got Tk 250 a kg from the outset, and beans are still selling at fairly good prices. Although the crop was damaged by the natural disaster in between, farmers have recovered, and with higher prices than in any other year, they have made a profit.

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