Bumper harvest fails to lower watermelon prices

Watermelon, the luscious fruit in great demand in the summer, has become costlier in the city because of direct market intervention by middlemen.
The fruit is being sold at 140-200 per cent higher rate in the cities compared to that at the growers' end, growers and officials alleged.
Both farmers and consumers are being deprived of  bumper output of the fruit this year, they said. The fruit  provides great relief in hot weather, they said.
Watermelons of different sizes are being sold at Tk70-200 per piece at retail markets in Dhaka for the last 15 days, retailers at the city's different points said.
"Per piece of 'Patenga Giant' variety of watermelon sold at Tk120-160 at Badamtoli wholesale market today. I'm selling it at Tk180-200", Razab Ali, a retailer at Azimpur area, said.
He said : "We have to pay Tk5-10 (according to size) extra per piece to different parties in the market as toll."    
However, the prices of watermelon are Tk50-Tk150 per piece at wholesale markets including Sadarghat, Badamtoli, Showarighat and Beribadh area in the city.
"We have to pay a big amount of toll at each ghat. Extortion process goes on from growers' end to retailers' hand. This has forced us to charge a higher price", Abdul Wahab Ali, a wholesaler at Badamtoli area, said.
But, he hoped that the prices would fall significantly from the third week of this month when watermelon harvest will start in full swing.
However, watermelons have been cultivated at nearly 35,000 hectares of lands in the country and the production would surpass a record 1.45 million tonnes this year, an official at the cash crop wing under the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said.
He said more than 85 per cent of the melons are grown in the coastal districts of Chittagong, Barisal and Jessore. The rest is grown in Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Naogaon and Rangamati districts.
Additional director of the DAE in charge of the Barisal agricultural region Abdul Munnaf Ahmed told the FE that favourable weather prevailed this year as temperature remained between 24C and 36C in February and March in the coastal districts, which is very suitable for melons.
The farmers are growing varieties like Glory, Patenga Giant, Top Yield, World Queen, Champion, Empire, Big Tob and Sugar Baby more or less in every district in the country this year, he said.
He said nearly 30,000 hectares of lands in 11 districts under Barisal region have come under watermelon cultivation this year and the farmers are expecting a bumper yield.
"Last year, we got nearly 42 tonnes per hectare. It will be surpassed this year", he said.
However, watermelon, which is priced Tk150 in Dhaka is sold at Tk45-50 in Patuakhali, the biggest melon growing district of the country.   
Coastal farmers said the prices have been falling sharply at the raw agro produce market.
Md Hafizul Islam, a farmer at Shampur village under Bauphal upazila in Patuakhali, said he had cultivated the fruit on 3 bighas (33 decimal per bigha) of land spending Tk40,000.
"I have completed cultivation at one bigha and got 500 pieces of fruits. I sold them at Tk20,000",  he said.
But he feared that he would not be able to make profit from rest of his crops as prices are falling in wholesale markets.
Last week, a big-size melon sold at Tk60-65 at the wholesale market which fell to Tk40-45 this week, he said.
He said last year, farmers incurred a huge loss when melon prices declined abnormally.
Patuakhali, Bhola and Barguna districts are the biggest melon-growing areas in the country, jointly covering 29,500 hectares of land.
Last year, the farmers produced 1.3 million tonnes of melon in the country, DAE sources said.