Sherpur has had a high yield of winter vegetables this year, and winter vegetables have begun arriving in every market in the district. Trade is brisk at the biggest wholesale market, on the bank of the Brahmaputra. But with heavy supply, farmers are not getting the prices they hoped for, and the effect is starting to reach retail markets.

Wholesalers say that as vegetables from the char areas begin arriving, vegetables will soon be available cheaply in both wholesale and retail markets.

Every morning at dawn the market on the bank of the Brahmaputra, on the Sherpur-Jamalpur border, fills with buyers and sellers. It is the district's biggest wholesale vegetable market. Wholesale buyers come from the district's upazilas and from neighbouring Jamalpur, Tangail and Mymensingh. The char vegetables are sold across the country, carried by truck to various areas.

Majid Mia, a wholesale buyer from Mymensingh, told Jago News this is the biggest fresh produce market north of Mymensingh. Because the surrounding area is char land, vegetables are available here very cheaply, and transport costs to other areas are comparatively low. "So we buy vegetables wholesale here and sell them in various places," he said.

Another buyer, Arman Ali, said: "All kinds of vegetables grow well on the river chars. Because the harvest is good, prices are very cheap. So wholesalers from different parts of the country buy vegetables here, and retail shopkeepers also buy here to run their businesses."

Wholesalers believe that with the high yield, vegetable prices will soon fall in retail markets. Wholesaler Shakil Mondol told Jago News: "The winter vegetable crop has been good this time. Vegetables have started arriving at the wholesale market. Within two to four days vegetables will be available cheaply in retail markets."

Farmers, however, say that with heavy supply they are not getting the prices they hoped for. Farmer Russel Mia said: "Everything in the country costs more; only fresh produce is cheap. Yet every input for farming costs more. All in all, it is a loss if the harvest is big and a loss if it is poor! Farmers do not make much profit."

According to the agriculture department, this year's target for winter vegetables in Sherpur is 8,705 hectares, 265 hectares more than last year.

Dr Sukalpa Das, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (Khamarbari) in Sherpur, told Jago News that vegetable cultivation this season will beat last year's record. All kinds of advice and training for winter vegetable cultivation are continuing in the field, he said.

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