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Poor cauliflower prices frustrate  farmers in Meherpur

Published : Wednesday, 8 January, 2025 at 12:00 AM  Count : 68
M R Alam
MEHERPUR, Jan 7: Meherpur District is famous for vegetable production. Every day hundreds of tonnes of vegetables are sent to the capital and other major cities after meeting local demand.

This season, Meherpur farmers cultivated cauliflowers along with other vegetables. Due to poor price, cauliflowers are getting damaged in fields. To clean the cauliflower fields for other crops, locals are taking the vegetable as fodder. 

Farmers cultivated winter cauliflower with hopes to earn good profits. But now, far from making a profit, it could not be possible to lift the production cost. Cauliflower farmers are worried about the burden of losses. 

Many people shifted to cultivate cauliflower for good demand and fair price as winter vegetable.  As markets are flooded with various vegetables, growers are not getting much profit this season. The average cost of production of each cauliflower is Tk 8  while each cauliflower is being sold at Tk 3 to 5.

Those who cultivated taking loans from various sources are now in trouble. 

Saharbati Village in Meherpur is known as the vegetable village. Cauliflower was farmed mostly in this village. Usually, farmers sell their produce to wholesalers from their own lands. 

Every day, more than one hundred trucks loaded with vegetables leave from here to various areas including Dhaka. 

However, this time, as the truck fare has been increased, one to five trucks are going to Dhaka, Chittagong, Feni, Barisal and Sylhet instead of hundreds.

According to the District Agricultural Extension Office, 1,120 hectares (ha) of cauliflower and 1,060ha of cabbage have been cultivated in the district this year.

Shariful Islam, a farmer from Banshbaria Village in Gangni Upazila, said, "Last year, I cultivated cauliflower on six bighas of land and earned Tk 3.5 lakh per bigha. With that hope, I cultivated it on 11 bighas of land this season. Since I could not sell my cauliflowers in time, all these were damaged."

Rezaul Haque, a farmer from Bhatpara Village, said, "I cultivated cauliflower on two bighas of land. Each piece weighted one to two kilograms. There is no buyer. So, I have left the land, keeping behind the cauliflowers. Locals are taking these for feeding their cows and goats. I am spending my days thinking about how I will pay for fertilizers, pesticides cost and land lease money". 

Sirajul Islam, a farmer from Saharbati Village, said, "I cultivated cauliflower on two bighas of land and sold it for only Tk 5,000. I have left the remaining cauliflowers in the land."

It is not possible to keep the cauliflower after mature as it is flowered. A couple of traders said, they have lost money twice by taking cauliflower from there to  Dhaka and Chattagram.

A Labourer   Mosharraf said, he used to earn Tk  50,000-60,000 every season by loading trucks. But this season there is not much work, and the farmers are not even able to pay the workers, he added.

Agricultural Marketing Officer Tariqul Islam said, the price has come down as farmers of Meherpur  cultivated cauliflower at a large scale  this year. A super shop "Swapna" purchased 10,000 pieces of cauliflower from their shops at Tk 5 per piece.
 
Swapna outlet manager said, after seeing the condition of the farmers in the media, they collected 10,000 pieces of cauliflower. 

He also requested other organizations to come forward to save the farmers. He also said, they will continue the programme. 



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