BSS, Rangamati :
Lack of storage, marketing and infrastructure development facilities are the major obstacles to ensuring fair prices of seasonal fruits in the Chittagong Hill Tracts [CHT].
Farmers of the hill districts of Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban have been producing tonnes of various kinds of fruits on hills top, foothills, hillside and plain lands across the rugged CHT region.
This year, the cultivators of the CHT region, a potential fruits growing areas of the country, also harvested huge quantities of fruits but they could not get fair prices due to zigzag road communications, lack of marketing as well as absence of storage and transport facilities, officials, businessman and farmers said.
The farmers of the region have also counted heavy losses this year as they did not find potential buyers of their products. Sometimes they were bound to sell their fruits at throwaway prices because of absence of the buyers.
Every year tonnes of different kinds of rotten seasonal fruits like mangoes, litchis, pineapples, watermelons, oranges, tomatoes, jackfruits, bananas, papaya and guavas worth over millions of Taka are being perished due to lack of cold storages, fruit processing plants, marketing and transport facilities.
Officials, businessman, community leaders and farmers have demanded of the authorities concerned to set up cold storages, fruits processing plants, modern road and marketing facilities in the CHT to protect the interest of tribal farmers.
