Garlic farmers not getting fair prices

The production of garlic, one of the most essential seasonings, is increasing every year with farmers of Chalan Beel in the northern Natore and Pabna districts this year accounting for around half of that grown in the country.

However, poor wholesale rates are depriving the region's farmers from getting fair prices for their produce, said sources.

Md Bachchu Alom of Korkola village in Chatmohar upazila cultivated the herb on five bighas of land after harvesting Aman paddy.

He expected a good profit from his harvest of around 125 maunds (one maund equals around 37 kilogrammes) this year.

But his hopes have been marred as the prices could not meet his expectations. Now he is struggling to recover the production cost.

He had invested some Tk 28,000 to Tk 30,000 per bigha and expected to earn a minimum of Tk 50,000 from each.

"I have sold most of the garlic at Tk 1,500 to Tk 1,600 per maund at Chaikola Haat, the biggest wholesale market for garlic in Chalan Beel region, over the last couple of weeks due to a price fall in the wholesale market," said Bachchu.

Around 25 per cent of the yield is of low quality, selling for Tk 600 to Tk 700 per maund.

Some 7.24 lakh tonnes of the herb have been harvested cultivating around 86,499 hectares of land across the country this year, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension.

Around 70 to 80 per cent of the crop has been harvested, it said.

"Last year farmers cultivated 93,655 hectares of land and produced 6.69 lakh tonnes of the crop," Dr Shamim Ahmed, additional deputy director of the DAE, told The Daily Star.

"Production increased this year all because of good weather," he said.

According to the districts' DAE offices, 25,130 hectares of land were cultivated in Natore yielding approximately 2.38 lakh tonnes of garlic. In Pabna, it was 13,430 hectares and 1.27 lakh tonnes respectively.

Chalan Beel farmers used to cultivate Aman paddy during the monsoon.

After harvesting it, they used to plant garlic in the marshy land removing the floodwater and without ploughing it and covering up the fields with straw, said DAE Deputy Director Subroto Kumar Sarkar.

When the flood water recedes, fields become fertile to have a good garlic production.

Farmers of this part of Natore mostly cultivate garlic rather than other crops, said Sarkar.

As for the prices, a visit to different wholesale and retail markets revealed a huge difference.

Md Sohrab Ali, a wholesale trader of Chaikola Haat, claimed increased supplies had downed the prices.

Last year each maund was selling at Tk 3,000 to Tk 3,500 and that of the lower quality at Tk 1,600 to Tk 1,800, he said.

However, retail prices remain as high as that of last year. Each kilogramme of the better quality is selling at Tk 80 to Tk 90 while that of the lower quality at Tk 50 to Tk 60.

"Although the producers are selling each maund at Tk 1,600 to Tk 1,700, we are buying each maund at Tk 2,200 to Tk 2500 from the wholesale traders," said vegetable vendor Md Nannu Miah of Pabna.

"We do not go to the village markets. Wholesale traders first collect it from farmers and then sell it to the wholesale traders of big markets. We are buying from the second set of wholesale traders," he said.

Farmers say they do not have adequate space in their homes to store their harvest, for which they were selling the crop at a cheap rate and facing losses.

They demanded that the government arrange storage facilities so that they could get expected price.

"The price of garlic will increase in the next two to three months but we can't store the crop in our home. If the government takes an initiative to store garlic, farmers would not be deprived," said farmer Md Rawshon Mollah of Sonjoypur village in Atghoria upazila.

"Market monitoring is essential for the sake of farmers and buyers," he added.