Better prices of agri produce boost Eid shopping in rural areas this yr

Rush of buyers in any shopping mall in Dhaka or Chittagong on the eve of Eid festival is a common phenomenon and viewers-readers of media are much familiar with it. Eid shopping in rural areas is always a less discussed issue despite the fact that it contributes a lot to the overall trading, said experts.
With continuous fall in prices of major crops from 2011 to first two months of 2014, both farmers and farm economy suffered a lot. Trading dropped significantly specially of luxurious products in rural areas.
But after the potato price fall in January-February this year, farmers got good return for rice, wheat, onion, chilli, summer vegetables, fruits etc which has made a vast flow of money in rural areas and the shopping outlets, the experts observed.
Handsome prices of those agricultural produce helped boost Eid shopping in remote areas this year which the experts said is a very positive sign for the overall economy of the country.
"Urban people more and less buy clothes and other commodities for Eid. But Eid shopping by farmers or a major portion of the rural community is totally dependent on their profits from produced crops," President of FBCCI (Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed said.
"Farmers are the biggest professional community of the country with more than 25 million households. If each farm household spends Tk 500 only for clothing for the family in Eid that means a transaction of Tk 15 billion has been made," he said.
He said it is a very positive side that the farmers are getting better price for their produce which is helping the overall economy of the country.
Md Mutalib Hossain, a farmer at Nagarkanda upazila under Faridpur district, was shopping at Talmara Bazar in his locality Thursday.
Talking to our Faridpur Correspondent Anok Shahidi he said he made handsome profits both from onion and chilli sales this year.
Md Mutalib said he cultivated chilli at his one acre of land and made Tk 60,000 profit so far.
"I've harvested 5,000 kg of chilli so far. The price at the wholesale level is now hovering between Tk 60-80 per kg against production cost of Tk 35-36 per kg," he said.   
Owner of Halim Store at Talmara Bazar, Md Halim, said he brought all kinds of dresses from Islampur in Dhaka and Baburhat in Narsingdi.
"Sale has increased three times compared to last year's," he said.
Sarker Market and Balua Market under Mithapukur upazila in Rangpur were full of customers, our Rangpur Correspondent Mofidul Hoque Babu said.
Anisur Rahman, a farmer at Balua Mashipur Union in Mithapukur, came to the Sarker Market with his wife and children for shopping.
Talking to our Rangpur Correspondent he said they incurred a massive loss in potato season but gained handsome profit from Boro crop and chilli which helped them to celebrate the festival.  
Owner of Shetu Poshak Ghar at Salek Market in Rangpur Sadar, Md Sharif Uddin, told the FE correspondent that daily turnover of his shop crossed Tk 60,000 for last five days which was hardly 30,000-35,000 in the corresponding period of last year.
However, sources at Thakurgaon, Nilphamari, Rajshahi and Chuadanga said the scenario for the farmers who cultivated maize was different because of low prices of the produce.      
Abdus Sattar Dhali, president of Islampur Clothes Merchants Association (ICMA), Dhaka, the biggest wholesale clothes market in the country, told the FE that nearly 7,500 clothes merchants under 127 markets are passing very busy time this year compared to last year.
He said customers from the remote areas increased significantly this year which was absent last year.
He said sound political condition coupled with profitable price of Boro crop helped boost sale volume in Islampur.
About trading in clothes, he said the monopoly of Islampur was no more as Baburhat in Narsingdi district was also attracting a good number of buyers of the country.
Farm economist Golam Hafiz Kennedy told the FE that contribution of both service and agricultural sectors to the country's GDP has been falling for last three years.
He said agro processing industry, non-farm sectors in rural areas also suffered only for poor price of farm produce.
"Farmers got at least a profit of Tk 80-100 in per maund of rice this year. Onion, ginger, vegetable and fruit growers also got handsome prices which has boosted sale both in rural and urban areas," he said.