Mohammed Badrul Ahsan :
Although production of vegetables are going up gradually across the country, both farmers and consumers are deprived of the reaping the advantage as middlemen are consistently eating up most of benefits, market observers said.
According to data available with the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), shows a 50-180 per cent gap in vegetable prices at farmers’ level and in the city’s kitchen markets this winter.
The New Nation (NN) market-watch also found a 30-60 per cent price gap between the city’s retail and wholesale markets, which is further increasing the vegetable prices. The production of winter vegetables has been gradually increasing in the country for a decade amid increase in demand, development in varieties, and available seed supply due to various initiatives of the public and private sectors.
The output of nutritious crop cultivation witnessed difficulties for floods and subsequent water-logging in September-October period this year. But it increased significantly in November with drying up of arable lands, Director at Field Service Wing of DAE Chaitanya Kumar Das said.
He also said vegetable production in Robi season (winter) now stands at above 7.2 million tonnes (FY 16), which is 60 per cent of the total production. Winter vegetable output has been maintaining a 3-10 per cent growth year-on-year basis in a decade. According to Horticulture Wing of DAE, more than 35 kinds of vegetables are grown in winter season – from October to March – of which cauliflower, winter brinjal, cabbage, cucumber, tomato, winter bean, pointed gourd, radish, carrot, coriander leaf and dozens of leafy ones are major.
DAE data also showed that Dhaka city consumes 30-35 per cent of vegetables that the country produces.
According to traders of Mirpur-1, Karwan Bazar, Jatrabari, Shyambazar, Sadarghat and other five wholesale markets in the city, usually 650-700 trucks and pickup vans loaded with 7,000-7,500 tonnes of vegetables enter the metropolis per day. The volume increased to 9,500-10,000 tonnes a day in November-January period thanks to notable rise in production of winter vegetables.
Md Abdul Hannan, vice-president of Jatrabari Kanchamal Aratdar Samity, an association of wholesalers, said the supply of vegetables was lesser last month, but it has increased significantly in the current month.
He said now 100-120 trucks and pickup vans, especially from Comilla, Narsingdi, Munshiganj and southern districts, are daily entering Jatrabari kitchen markets, whereas the number was 70-80 in November.
President of Uttar Karwan Bazar Babosayee Janokalyan Samity, another association of wholesalers, Haji Hafez Khan said 280-300 vegetable-laden trucks are coming to their market everyday from northern, south-western and central districts. He said there is no shortage of supply now, which they observed from October to Mid-November period. However, despite significant increase in supply, the prices of winter vegetables have not declined to the consumers’ expected level this year.
