The pomelo is a familiar seasonal fruit, cheap to buy yet highly valuable for its nutrition. Its season usually runs from April to October, when markets are full of it. The juicy pomelo grown in the Rangamati hills is gaining a following across the country: after meeting local demand, it is increasingly sought in Dhaka and other markets. Rangamati's haats are full of pomelos alongside other seasonal fruit, and wholesalers take five to ten truckloads a day to fruit depots around the country.

According to the Rangamati agriculture department, pomelo has been grown on 1,175 hectares in the district this year, with an expected yield of 14,000 tonnes. The yield is higher than last year.

Jyotimoy Chakma brought two boatloads of pomelo from his own and his neighbours' orchards at Kharikata and Begichhara in remote Longadu upazila to Samataghat at Banarupa bazar. "The yield is good this year, but the price is very low," he said. "Last year I sold pomelos at Tk 15-30 a piece. This year the same pomelo fetches only Tk 5-10 wholesale. That won't even cover the boat hire."

At least 15-20 wholesalers work around Rangamati's truck terminal, buying pomelo and other seasonal fruit at Banarupa Samataghat and trucking it to fruit depots in Dhaka, Cumilla, Feni, Noakhali and Chattogram. Trader and depot owner Nazim Uddin said: "Hill pomelo is in demand all over the country. I have a fruit depot in Chattogram and also supply other depots. Every pomelo season I buy from Rangamati for two months. The pomelos here are large, juicy and sweet."

Wholesaler Nazrul Islam said: "This year we can buy pomelo comparatively cheaply. About ten truckloads go from Rangamati to Dhaka, Chattogram and other districts every day. We regularly buy Rangamati's seasonal fruit to sell in the cities, but transport and toll costs are so high that we cannot make much profit."

Moniruzzaman, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Rangamati, said: "The pomelo tree is environmentally friendly for hill soil, and the district's yield is good this year. But because of remote terrain and very poor communications, farmers do not get a good price. So despite the demand, the prospects for commercial pomelo farming in the hills are very slim."

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