The fields of Khetlal in Joypurhat are full of aubergine, beans, bitter gourd, cauliflower and cabbage, but the upazila has no proper wholesale market. Growers have to accept whatever the traders who come to the fields will pay.
Abdul Kader of Ghugail village asked 30 to 35 taka a kilo for his bitter gourd; the trader offered 18 to 20 and he settled at 20. There is no market nearby, he said, and taking the crop further means transport costs, lost time and the risk of not selling. Shahajul Islam of Nashirpur puts the cost of a 90 to 120-day vegetable crop at 60,000 to 70,000 taka a bigha.
Farmers say bitter gourd sold for about 2,500 taka a maund last year and fetches 800 to 1,000 taka now; aubergine goes for 1,400 to 1,600 taka a maund. In local shops the same vegetables retail at about 40 taka a kilo, or 1,600 taka a maund. Growers want regular market monitoring to stop middlemen pocketing the difference.
Khetlal has 11,400 hectares of cropland. Vegetables covered 370 hectares in the kharif-2 season, with another 240 hectares being prepared for rabi, including 70 hectares each of bitter gourd and aubergine and 20 of tomato. A sub-assistant agriculture officer, speaking anonymously, estimated that at a loss of 15,000 to 20,000 taka a bigha, the 370 hectares have lost between 41,458,500 and 55,278,000 taka this season.
The nearest big market is Mahasthan in Bogura, 30 kilometres away. Sabuj Akanda of Panchuil, who rents 70 decimals for 70,000 taka a year, said transport costs 100 to 150 taka a maund, so 80 maunds from a bigha cost 8,000 to 10,000 taka just to move. Alimuddin of Ghugail spent about 45,000 taka on 25 decimals and has sold 22,000 taka of vegetables so far.
Traders feel the gap too. Aminur Islam, a wholesaler from Dhaka's Karwan Bazar, said Khetlal's vegetables are of good quality and in demand. Nazmul Hossain from Gazipur said trucks cannot reach every village, so produce is ferried on auto-vans at extra cost, and pickers are not always available. Farmers want a permanent vegetable wholesale market in the upazila.
This report is based on Samakal Khetlal (Joypurhat) correspondent Nazrul Islam's story.
Photo: a morning vegetable market supplied from nearby villages (illustrative), NagaBazarRajshahi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: samakal
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