Tomatoes that sold in the field for Tk 20 to 25 a kg last year are now being sold by farmers for only Tk 3 to 5. Farmers who got good prices at the height of the season are now in despair as it draws to a close.

Gobindanagar is a major vegetable wholesale hub in the northern district of Thakurgaon. Every day more than a hundred trucks carry vegetables from Thakurgaon to Dhaka and other parts of the country, and farmers here grow many kinds of vegetables in the winter season. For the past few days, however, vegetables of all kinds have been selling in Thakurgaon for next to nothing. Unable to get a price, many farmers are throwing tomatoes away.

Tomatoes are grown in large quantities in various upazilas of Thakurgaon, among the most in the country, and this year there has been a bumper crop. Farmers got Tk 50 a kg in mid-November, but the price is now Tk 3-5 a kg. Many cannot sell their tomatoes at all and are forced to dump them. Ordinary buyers, however, are still paying high prices in the market.

Enamul, a farmer from the Nargun area of Sadar upazila, said: "I got a good price for tomatoes only for a few days at the start of the season. Now I am selling them at Tk 3 to 5 a kg, while the same tomatoes sell in the market for Tk 15 to 20. They sell at a high price, but we do not get it."

Farmers are forced to sell tomatoes to wholesalers for only Tk 3 to 5 a kg, even though they have to pay labourers more to pick them.

Enamul said growing tomatoes on one bigha costs Tk 20,000-25,000. No farmer will recover production costs this year, and all the district's tomato growers will suffer losses as he has, he said.

Large quantities of cabbage, cauliflower and other vegetables are grown in the Chandipur area of Gareya union.

Cabbage grower Abdul Malek said the Gareya wholesale market is a major vegetable hub, supplying Dhaka and other places every day. Farmers there are now selling cabbages and cauliflowers at Tk 5 to 7 a piece. Farmers here have never sold them so cheaply. Jute leaves and all other leafy vegetables are selling at Tk 3 a bundle. He said vegetable growers in the area would suffer heavy losses this season.

Papaya and bottle gourd are grown in large quantities in every upazila of the district. Bottle gourd grower Nizam of Sadar upazila said growers are now forced to sell gourds to wholesalers at Tk 5-7 a piece, against Tk 20-25 a piece last year. Cucumbers are selling for only Tk 1-2 a kg, compared with Tk 20-40 a kg a month ago. Aubergine prices have also fallen.

Matin Mia, a wholesaler at the Gobindanagar market in the municipality, said vegetable prices are low across the country, so wholesalers in Thakurgaon are also buying cheaply from farmers. More vegetables have been planted this season and yields have also risen. Altogether prices are low this time, he said, though ordinary buyers are still forced to pay high prices.

Ibrahim, who was buying vegetables at Kalibari, the largest vegetable market in the municipality, said that although farmers are throwing tomatoes away for lack of a price, ordinary buyers are paying Tk 15-20 a kg. Farmers do not get a fair price, yet buyers must pay more to wholesalers and retailers. Still, he said, vegetable prices in Thakurgaon are much lower than at this time in other years.

Md Sirajul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Thakurgaon, said the district is well suited to vegetable farming and produces vegetables in large quantities. Because production is higher than demand, prices are much lower. "We are trying to help them sell their vegetables well outside Thakurgaon district," he said.

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