Rock-hard green papayas picked in the char areas of Nandail in Mymensingh are turning bright yellow within three or four hours. Local people allege that the artificially ripened fruit goes straight to wholesale markets in Dhaka and sells at high prices.
Local sources say wholesalers buy unripe papaya at Tk 10 to Tk 12 a kilo from orchards in Char Betagoir union, Char Sreerampur, Ananda Bazar and other char areas. The fruit is piled in a room or warehouse, where workers wrap each papaya in paper, pack them in baskets and sacks, and load them onto trucks. Wholesalers say the papayas ripen fully in the four to five hours it takes to reach Karwan Bazar. Many allege that fruit bought at Tk 10-12 sells for Tk 150 to Tk 200 in the capital.
Md Shahjahan, a trader in Char Betagoir, has his own papaya orchard and also buys others under contract; he recently paid Tk 70,000 for a 150-tree orchard with its fruit. He admits selling at high prices in Karwan Bazar but denies using chemicals, saying papaya wrapped in newspaper ripens on its own from the heat inside.
Several residents of Char Sreerampur, who asked not to be named, claim that a liquid chemical is sprayed on the fruit just before it is wrapped, and that a dishonest ring is behind it.
Nandail upazila health officer Shamima Sultana said eating chemically treated fruit damages the liver and kidneys and raises the risk of serious illness, including cancer.
Upazila agriculture officer Naima Sultana said not every papaya needs carbide or harmful chemicals: mature fruit that has stayed on the tree long enough will ripen in normal heat once wrapped in paper. Whether the char papayas are ripening naturally or artificially will be investigated, she said, and strict action will follow if banned chemicals are found. The report is by Bangladesh Times' correspondent.
Photo: Midori / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Bangladesh Times
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