Fruit farmers don't get fair prices

A third of hog plums and a sixth of guavas that the country produces each year are grown in three southwestern districts -- Barisal, Jhalakathi and Pirojpur, but farmers do not get fair prices because of a lack of agro-processing units in the region.

Had there been an agro-processing unit, hog plums and guavas could have been used to produce chutney, pickle, juice and jelly, according to farmers.

They made the observations during a gathering of farmers on the Baukathi Bindubashini High School ground in Jhalakathi recently.

Abdur Rahim, a local farmer, said they usually do not get good prices for the produce. “At times fruits get rotten and go to waste in absence of demand and proper marketing.” The combined annual production of hog plums in the three southwestern districts is 10,900 tonnes, one-third of the annual national output of 32,194 tonnes.

Official statistics show that the three districts are rich in guava production, churning out 33,985 tonnes a year, which makes up one-sixth of the total annual output of 2.06 lakh tonnes.

Agriculture activist Shykh Seraj conducted the discussion as part of his annual Krishi Budget Krishoker Budget programme. Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu attended the programme.

In response, both the ministers said the government would help promote the cause of the farmers and provide policy support so farm-based industries develop in the southwest and make the most of the fruit production.

Farmers also said they do not get good prices for rice. They demanded that the public food procurement schemes buy paddy and rice directly from the growers, not from middlemen.

The farmers also expressed their worries, saying the arable land is increasingly becoming saline and the natural sweet water reservoirs such as rivers and canals are being silted up.