Areca nut plantings in Pirojpur keep growing, but this season's yield has fallen. Salinity and other environmental factors have cut output and pushed up prices; some growers are getting good prices, while those whose harvest fell sharply have lost income.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, areca nut covers 4,669 hectares in the district this year, with a production target of 18,676 tonnes and a potential market value of Tk 840 crore to 930 crore. Yields are lower than last year in seven upazilas, including Sadar, Kawkhali and Nesarabad.
The district's main trading hub is the century-old market at Kawkhali, held on Fridays and Mondays. A kuri there is 21 gha, or 210 raw nuts, and sells for Tk 400 to 700 depending on grade, while a maund of dried nuts fetches Tk 18,000 to 20,000. Trader Forkan Mia said a kuri sold for Tk 300 to 500 at this time last year and Tk 500 to 700 now, at least 30 percent more.
Farmer Motaleb Howlader said the orchard that earned him Tk 2 lakh last year will not bring in even Tk 1 lakh this time. Another grower, Al-Amin, said that although his harvest is smaller, prices are good. Nesarabad trader Faisal Hossain buys nuts and stores them in polythene underground for about six months, to sell when no fresh nuts are available.
Pirojpur's nuts are large and well coloured and sell in Dhaka, Sylhet, Chattogram and Noakhali. Sorting, transport and storage at Kawkhali employ more than a hundred people, sellers come from Jhalokati too, and the market will run twice a week until December.
Soumitra Sarkar, deputy director of the district extension office, said many people are planting commercial areca orchards because the crop pays better than others. With the yield down this year, farmers are getting higher prices, and the department is advising them on regular orchard care.
Reporting: Agricare24 desk
Photo: Afifa Afrin / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Agricare24
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