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Farmers happy with early winter veg prices


Bangladeshpost
Published : 25 Oct 2020 08:25 PM | Updated : 26 Oct 2020 08:00 AM

Roving Correspondent

Farmers in Jhenaidah have expressed satisfaction over the prices of early variety winter vegetables this season in the market with high prices vexing the consumers.

“We are satisfied over the current state of the vegetable prices and expecting better in the coming winter,” Vegetable farmer Alauddin from Shailkupa’s Gobindapur    village said.

Ahmed Ali, a fruit vendor at a kitchen market, said the prices of newly harvested early variety of winter vegetables were selling at abnormal prices since early September.

Traders are selling potato at Tk 50 a kilogram (kg) – a Tk 15 more than the revised price set by the government at Tk 35 a kg. “The government order apparently has no effect in the kitchen market,” he added.

On spot visits to the district town’s kitchen markets on Saturday, this correspondent found aurum (mukhikachu) was s being sold at Tk 40 to 45 a kg, coli-flower at Tk 80 a kg, potol at Tk 70 to 80 as kg , bean at Tk 130 akg, long bean (barbati) at Tk 60 a kg, bitter gourd (uchchhe) at Tk 90 to 100, eggplant at Tk 60, tuber potato (mete alu) at Tk 50, tomato at Tk 90-100, radish at Tk 40, ladies finger at Tk 60 and cabbage was being sold at Tk 50 a kg.

A bundle of palong was being sold at Tk 10, each piece of pumpkin (lau) at Tk 30 to 40, mankachu at Tk 50 to 60 and basil (puishak) at Tk 20 a bundle.

A vegetable vendor, Bashir Ahmed from Jheniadah kitchen market said they buy vegetables for the farmers at a higher price since the early variety of the winter vegetables rushing to the market

Soaring prices make it difficult to sell vegetables to the consumers, he added.

Housewife Shamsunnahar, from Natun Bridge Masjid Marekt area, said she is disheartened seeing the price of all vegetables go out of reach of the commoners like her.

They are facing troubles to manage her kitchen with the limited income, said Shamsunnahar, who is also a government primary school teacher. According to Jhenidah’s Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources, farmers produced about 43,000 tonnes of vegetables on a total of 2,420 hectares of land in six upazilas of the district this season.

A total of 68,639 tonnes of early variety winter vegetables were produced on 2,900 hectares of land last season.

When contended DAE Deputy Director Kripangshu Shekhar Biswas said the field level staffer were directed to help farmers produce early variety of winter vegetables.

They have been working to ensure farming at homestead and expanding gardens for nutrition and organic food production round the year as per Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s instruction on not leaving an inch of arable land out of farming.

Production of early variety of winter vegetables will help meet the demand across the country and reduce nutrition deficiency among rural people and, Biswas said.