UNB, Lalmonirhat :
The bumper production of vegetables in eight districts under Rangpur agroecological zone has turned into a curse for the growers as they have to sell their perishable produces by and large for lack of preservation facilities.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), some 56,720 hectares of lands were brought under vegetables cultivation in Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts for the Robi cropping season (October-March) this year, and the vegetables output has so far stood at 11,79,520 tonnes due to favourable weather.
But the huge surplus in the harvest has led to an ambivalent situation as the market price fell sharply when the growers had started bringing their produces to the market all at once.
At the inception of the Robi season, the price of radish was TK 30-40 per kg which has now fallen down to only Tk 4 per kg. The price of tomato and cauliflower also has fallen down significantly.
Eventually, the farmers have to either sell the produces at lower than their production costs or to abandon harvesting to save the labour cost.
It is not a rare scene when one travels across the village roads to see maunds of harvested vegetables like tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, radish and bean laid to perish along the ails (borders) of crop fields.
Atahar Ali, a vegetable grower in Shiyalkhawa village in Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat district, said the wholesale price of 100 pieces of cabbages was TK 800-1,000 at the onset of the season, but the price has fallen sharply now as there is no buyer. “These vegetables now have become cattle feed,” he said.
Bablu Miah, Sirajul Islam, Atikul Islam, vegetable growers in Mahendraganj village in Sadar upazila, claimed that tomato is now selling at only TK 2 per kg.
Having failed to sell the vegetables, they have thrown away the produce at the local market and returned home empty handed.
The bumper production of vegetables in eight districts under Rangpur agroecological zone has turned into a curse for the growers as they have to sell their perishable produces by and large for lack of preservation facilities.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), some 56,720 hectares of lands were brought under vegetables cultivation in Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts for the Robi cropping season (October-March) this year, and the vegetables output has so far stood at 11,79,520 tonnes due to favourable weather.
But the huge surplus in the harvest has led to an ambivalent situation as the market price fell sharply when the growers had started bringing their produces to the market all at once.
At the inception of the Robi season, the price of radish was TK 30-40 per kg which has now fallen down to only Tk 4 per kg. The price of tomato and cauliflower also has fallen down significantly.
Eventually, the farmers have to either sell the produces at lower than their production costs or to abandon harvesting to save the labour cost.
It is not a rare scene when one travels across the village roads to see maunds of harvested vegetables like tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, radish and bean laid to perish along the ails (borders) of crop fields.
Atahar Ali, a vegetable grower in Shiyalkhawa village in Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat district, said the wholesale price of 100 pieces of cabbages was TK 800-1,000 at the onset of the season, but the price has fallen sharply now as there is no buyer. “These vegetables now have become cattle feed,” he said.
Bablu Miah, Sirajul Islam, Atikul Islam, vegetable growers in Mahendraganj village in Sadar upazila, claimed that tomato is now selling at only TK 2 per kg.
Having failed to sell the vegetables, they have thrown away the produce at the local market and returned home empty handed.
