MAHASTHAN, Bangladesh — Cauliflower prices have collapsed at the Mahasthan market in Bogura amid severe cold and dense fog, with each kilogram selling for about 1.5 taka. Traders said winter’s grip had increased supply at the market, but a shortage of wholesalers caused the price to crash.
The scene was visible from Sunday morning through midday at Mahasthan Hat, the largest vegetable wholesale market in northern Bangladesh.
Farmers began arriving with cauliflower in vans before dawn, cutting through a thick blanket of fog. Buyers were present at first, but as the day wore on, supply outpaced demand and wholesalers disappeared.
Cauliflower sold for 100 to 130 taka per maund early on, then dropped to 45 to 50 taka per maund.
The sun did not break through until 2 p.m. because of the heavy fog, keeping wholesale buyers away. That drove prices down further.
The Meteorological Department recorded a low of 13.2 degrees Celsius in the district Sunday morning, the season’s lowest. On Saturday, the low was 14.8 degrees Celsius.
The weather office said the cold could intensify in the coming days.
At Mahasthan Hat, vegetables filled the market from one end to the other. From early morning, farmers from distant villages arrived by auto vans, easy-bikes, vottbottis and CNGs hoping for a good price for what they had grown. The crowd of buyers, sellers and middlemen was as dense as ever. But the price of cauliflower was far from what farmers had hoped for. As markets fall day after day during the peak winter vegetable season, farmers are facing losses.
With supply outstripping demand, no storage facilities and few buyers, farmers are being forced to sell fresh produce at low prices, suffering financial losses and worrying about whether they will recover production costs.
Faruk Islam, a farmer from Balua village in Shibganj upazila who came to Mahasthan with cauliflower to sell, said: “I brought 10 maunds of cauliflower to sell. But the supply is too high. There are no buyers. So I had to sell 10 maunds for 450 taka just to cover the van rent. That comes to 1.15 taka per kilogram.”
Helal Pramanik, a farmer from Krishnopur village in the upazila, said the same. He sold 17 maunds of cauliflower at 50 taka per maund. That works out to 1.25 taka per kilogram.
Emdadul Haque, a wholesaler from Narayanganj who came to buy vegetables, said he buys from Gias Uddin’s warehouse in Mahasthan. On Sunday, with prices falling, he bought one tonne at 50 taka per maund. He plans to buy more, he said.
Milon Rahman, a Mirpur trader from Dhaka, buys vegetables at Kamal Hajar’s warehouse. With cauliflower so cheap, he bought three tonnes at an average of 50 to 120 taka per maund.
Taherul Islam, the owner of Bishal Bhandar in Mahasthan, said the market has about 40 warehouses of varying sizes. About 40 truckloads of produce are now being delivered each day, he said. Supply is high, outside wholesalers are not coming, and vegetable prices keep falling. “We are buying produce at risk out of consideration for the farmers’ hardship, but both farmers and traders are losing,” Taherul Islam said.
Shibganj upazila agriculture officer Abdul Hannan said cauliflower prices had suddenly fallen because of the weather. He said prices would rise again within a day or two.
Faridul Islam, sub-assistant agriculture officer at the Bogura district agriculture extension department, said favorable weather and the absence of crop disease had produced an abundance of vegetables this season. The arrival of all winter vegetables at the same time brought prices within reach of buyers. Some vegetable prices have fallen, but the market will normalize in a few days, he said. Source: Kalbela.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report