Asad Mia, a large orange orchard grower in Lalmonirhat, cultivated cauliflower on 27 percent of his land with a loan. The yield has also been good. The hope was to pay off the loan by selling the cauliflower. A part of the profit will be used to cover the expenses of the family, and another part will cover the cost of cultivating the next crop. But his account has been turned upside down. This time the price of cauliflower is 5 to 6 rupees. Asad Miah has to calculate the loss of 5 rupees per cauliflower.
But the opposite picture is in the market of the capital. Here, each cauliflower is sold at Tk 25-35, cabbage at Tk 30-40, radish at Tk 30-40 per kg, carrot at Tk 40, brinjal at Tk 40-60, bean at Tk 30-50 and papaya at Tk 35-40. Apart from this, tomatoes are being sold at Tk 70-80 and potatoes at Tk 50-60. That is, even if the farmer sells vegetables at a loss, the buyer has to buy the same vegetables at 6-7 times higher price.
Farmer Asad Mia said, excluding his own labor, his production cost of each cauliflower is 8 to 10 taka including seedlings, fertilizer and other expenses. Now each cauliflower is sold for 5 to 6 rupees. It costs a little more to take to market, but it's about the same with transportation costs.
Not only Asad, but all the marginal farmers of Lalmonirhat are in loss. Farmers of various vegetables including radish, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot in Bogra also reported the loss.
In Bogra's big wholesale market, Mahasthan, Rajabazar, and other wholesale markets yesterday, cauliflower was Tk 3-5 per kg (average one), cabbage Tk 8-13, radish Tk 2-4, carrot Tk 25-35, tomato Tk 30-50, beans Tk 8 -12 taka, papaya 20-25 taka and brinjal sold at 10-15 taka.
Noor Nabi, a farmer of this market, said that vegetables, including cauliflower, are crops that cannot be eaten when they are ripe. Even if it is a loss, it has to be sold. Otherwise more losses. In this opportunity wholesalers reduce the price. Farmers lose capital in this.
Talking to various traders in the market, it is known that farmers bring vegetables at their own expense and sell them to wholesalers. The wholesalers deliver directly to the stores in different areas including the capital by trucks. Small wholesalers in nearby markets buy from Arat. The marginal retailers buy the vegetables from them and take them to different markets in the city, from whom the retailers buy the vegetables. As such, the price of vegetables is increasing almost twice in every exchange.
Deputy Director of Agriculture Extension Department. Saiful Arefin said that the prices of all kinds of vegetables have decreased due to the availability of all kinds of vegetables in the current market. Not only cauliflower, cabbage, but all types of vegetables have reduced in price.
The wholesale trader of Bogra's Mahasthan buys vegetables from Badsha Haat and sells them in various big cities including Dhaka and Chittagong. Badsha told Ajkar newspaper yesterday, “To buy vegetables and sell them in Dhaka and Chittagong, the cost of each kg of vegetables is 6 rupees, including transportation fare and terminal costs. If we talk about cauliflower with the purchase price, then we have to sell more than 11 rupees per kg. But at the retail level the price goes up even more.'
Traders say that although the production of some vegetables including cabbage and radish is good, the demand in the market has decreased compared to that. People don't want to eat copy now. So the farmer is in loss. This price won't last long. It will start growing again within a week.
Yamin, a vegetable retailer in Segunbagicha market, said, 'We sell at the market price after adding car hire, spoilage losses, at the price we buy from wholesalers in Karwan market. If the wholesalers put a higher price, we also have to sell at a higher price.'
The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) published a research report last October investigating the reasons for the increase in the prices of daily necessities. It is said that even if the price increases from the producer to the consumer level, the producers do not get fair price. Sometimes the price increases due to indirect costs. Product demand, production, supply and import inconsistency along with inefficient market system, high rate of product transportation, market dominance and limited access to retail market of the producers – due to these reasons the prices of essential products including vegetables, green chillies are increasing in the local market. Research suggests that if production costs can be reduced at the stages of storage, transportation and product processing, then this can be solved.
Agricultural economist Dr. Mohammad Jahangir Alam said that one of the problems in the agricultural sector is that farmers cannot sell at a fair price. The produce of the farmer has to go through various intermediaries, such as wholesalers, dealers, dealers, dealers, retailers, etc. At each step intermediaries add their share of profit. This increases the price of the product. As a result, on the one hand, the buyer has to buy at a higher price, on the other hand, a large part of the profit does not reach the farmer. Implementation of Agricultural Cooperative Marketing System or 'Agricultural Consolidation Model' can be the solution to this problem. In this way farmers can complete their own marketing, transportation etc. of their produce. As a result, they can see the face of profit.
[প্রতিবেদনে তথ্য দিয়ে সহযোগিতা করেছেন বগুড়া প্রতিনিধি গনেশ দাস ও লালমনিরহাট প্রতিনিধি মো. খোরশেদ আলম সাগর]
