BOGURA, May 07: Local farmers are worried about vegetable farming as they fail to recoup their vegetable production costs even after getting bumper production of their produce due to lack of sufficient storage facilities.
Agriculture office sources say disappointment grows among vegetable farmers in Sirajganj, Bogura and Pabna districts as they cannot preserve their produce.
As a result, they often incur losses following the high transportation costs after harvesting vegetables from cropland.
Vegetable storage facilities are very much needed as the prices of produces remain low during their peak harvest period, they add.
Although the prices of all essential commodities have increased twofold or threefold, they are not getting reasonable prices of their produce due to lack of preservation facilities, said farmers of the northern region, known as the food bank of the country.
"We're being forced to sell our produce immediately after their harvest as we can't preserve our produce for want of necessary cold storages," many a farmer said.
There is a dark cloud of worry in the eyes of farmers as they fail to recoup the production costs even after bumper yield. They are being compelled to switch their farming trend and are cultivating one crop changing previous ones with the hope of more profits, they said.
Farmers say they incur losses if produce huge quantity of perishable goods, including potatoes due to lack of adequate cold storages.
Of the other perishable vegetables, green chilies, tomatoes, gherkin, gourd, bottle-gourd, brinjal, green pumpkin and ladyfingers are mentionable. Those need to sell immediately after harvesting from field. Otherwise, those go to rotten in a short span of time, they add.
According to sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), potatoes are cultivated on around 0.3 million (03 lakh) hectares of land in the region with a production target of around 7 million (70 lakh) tonnes worth around Tk 7,500 crore.
Farmers of Sirajganj, Pabna, Natore, Bogura, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon, Panchgarh, Gaibandha and Nilphamari expand their cultivable land each year with the hope to get good price of potatoes.
But, their dreams turn into nightmare. About 0.35 million (3.5 lakh) potato farmers in the region almost incur loss as they are forced to sell those untimely due to lack of space in the cold storages. Many of them, who cultivate potatoes and other crops after taking loans from usury traders or banks, face difficulties to repay the money.
Sources said there are around 256 small-and large-sized of cold-storages in the northern region with a storage capacity at only 3.1 million to 3.2 million (31 lakh to 32 lakh) tonnes of potatoes.
Farmers fell into problems while they go to preserve their remaining potatoes. On the other hand, cold-storage owners are in a dilemma as they are not able to preserve all the goods as per the farmers demand.
Rakibul Islam, a farmer of Chalan Beel area in Tarash upazila of Sirajganj district, said, "Many farmers in the region lean into other variety of vegetable cultivation instead of potatoes with the aim of earning a good profit. But, they face same problem in this field as they can't transport those to expected destinations in a short time due to poor road communication in different rural areas. They are compelled to spend additional money as transport fare."
"If they were able to protect their produce for a certain period, they could earn a huge profit," he added.
DAE sources also said over 1 million people of 16 districts in both Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions are directly and indirectly involved with vegetable cultivation. They produce around 5 million (50 lakh) tonnes of vegetables, which market value is around Tk 100 billion (10,000 crore).
The sources also said farmers in the region had been faced problems over the price of jute during the harvesting season. The low price of vegetables made many farmers frustrated, while many were disinterested to cultivate jute for the next time.
They sold their jute between Tk 1,500 and Tk 2,000 per maund, while its production cost was high compared to the sold money.
On the other hand, irrigation cost has increased nowadays compared to earlier due to a rise in fuel costs. Besides, severe load-shedding has become another cause of sufferings to the farmers.
The DAE sources also reveal that boro paddy is cultivated on about 1.8 million (18 lakh) hectares of land in the region, depending on irrigation. There are about 0.6 million (06 lakh) irrigation pumps in the region of which mostly run by diesel, while rest run by electricity. About 480 million (48 crore) litres of diesel are used in those pumps for irrigation.
DAE officials apprehend that the farmers of the region may face hardship this year and production of different goods may be hampered due to the ongoing searing heatwave sweeping the country.
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