Upon visiting the Shandhya river at Banaripara in Barishal, in the early hours, one would see a gathering of around 500 boats carrying large, round open sacks of rice. The boats, both big and small, dotted with these sacks, under the blue sky, can make for a fascinating sight for visitors.

For those on the boats, however, it is their livelihood.

The biggest rice market in the division, the Banaripara floating rice market sees hundreds of buyers come to the spot from different part of the country for the different varieties of rice it has to offer. The farmers of the upazila earn their daily bread by selling the rice.

This rice “haat” (weekly market) sits on the river twice a week -- Saturdays and Tuesdays -- from 7:00am to 12:00pm at the west side of Banaripara Bazar and the east side of Shandhya river, around 25 kilometers away from Barishal District Headquarters. The market operates around the year.

However, during the seasons when the most amount of rice is harvested -- August to October (Aush rice harvest) and December to March (harvest of all other varieties) -- the market operates four days a week, including Wednesdays and Fridays.

According to locals and the district's agriculture office, this market has been operating on the river for about two hundred years and has some special varieties of rice that many farmers proudly flaunt to their customers.

The Balam rice (a special variety), which is a heritage of Barishal, can be found at the market. It is special for its unique taste, said Belal Hossain, a farmer from Masjid Bari village, adding that the rice, however, was not available in large quantities like before.

Apart from the Balam, Godai and Aush are two other special varieties of rice found in the market.

Haridas Shikari, deputy director of the Agriculture Extension office in the district, said that most people from the villages in the upazila were running their rice business in the market. “If anyone does not grow their own paddy, he collects it from the market and processes it to make rice, which he can then bring back to the market and sell,” he said.

In the past, naval communication was major in the region due to its many canals and rivers. There would be large boats coming from Dhaka to buy rice. To have easier communication with the buyers, the farmers would sell their rice on boats.

That is how the market established itself here on Shandhya river, Shikari said.

Photo: Titu Das

“We are all from different villages scattered across the upazila and this is the only way we make our livelihood,” said one of the farmers who set up the market on Shandhya river, adding, “about 95 percent of the sellers are farmers from Nalejsree, Didihar, Dandyat, Baishari, Masjid Bari, Aura, Kali Bazar, Khodaboksho, Mangol, Chakhar, Bakpur, Jirakathi, Bhaitashar, Chalta Bari, Chaulkathi, Kajlahar, Braman Kathi, Jammu Dip villages.”

Amjad Hossain, a farmer from Aura village, said, “We finish all the preparations the night before we set up the market. The women of our families assist us while we load the boats with sacks of rice. In the morning, we leave for the market after breakfast.”

He added that the market operates till noon because all the farmers prefer selling off their products to the buyers, who wait on big trawlers on the river, before the sun is at its peak at noon.

The profit, however, was higher in the past, said Rafiqul Islam, who processes rice from paddy. “The number of buyers has declined, and the price of the paddy has also increased,” he said, adding that machine-based modern rice processing factories are the main threat to the floating market.

Adding to this, Shikari said that the special varieties of rice, that the market was popular for, were also being sold less compared to the rice grown by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). “More farmers prefer selling IRRI and BRRI rice over the special varieties now, since that is what the buyers prefer,” he said.

Compared to other rice markets, where rice is sold for Tk 1,800-2,000 per maund, the floating market offers the product at a lower cost-- currently Tk 1,600 per maund. 

Mamun Hossain, a businessman from Barishal's Aroddar Patti, said, “I come to this market due to the large variety of rice being sold here and also because of the fair price.”