Under a tarpaulin shed on the open ground in front of the village mosque, Bakhera Komolgari in Khetlal upazila of Joypurhat holds a bitter gourd wholesale market every day. It is not a government-leased haat, yet 250 to 300 maunds (9-11 tonnes) of the vegetable change hands here daily, and for about 15 years the spot has been the local hub of the karela trade.

From midday farmers bring bitter gourd straight from their fields to the wholesale buyers; trading runs from the afternoon into the night. Five or six wholesalers currently buy here, and the next morning the crop leaves by pickup for Dhaka and markets around the country. On Thursday afternoon, 17 September, sorted gourds were being packed into bags and crates with a pickup waiting alongside.

Farmers say the nearest haat, at Chowmuhani, is about three kilometres away and sits only on Saturdays and Tuesdays, while the Itakhola haat in Khetlal municipality is about six kilometres off. Selling in the village means no waiting for market day, less time lost and no transport cost.

Village farmer Rafiqul Islam sold a maund of bitter gourd for Tk 2,040 and said taking it to the weekly haat would have added to his costs. Babu Mondal, a wholesale buyer from Bogura town, said he and several other traders buy from the village regularly.

Local resident Murshidul Islam said wholesalers began buying here about 15 years ago because bitter gourd was widely grown in the surrounding fields, and the number of farmers and the volume of produce grew until the spot became a market in its own right.

Masud Parvez, additional agriculture officer for Khetlal upazila, said bitter gourd was planted on 60 hectares in the upazila this season and that the daily market at Bakhera Komolgari gives growers a fair price. The report is by Prothom Alo's Joypurhat correspondent.

Source: Prothom Alo