Crop price fall may impact lungi, saree sales

Sales of popular traditional clothes --lungis and sarees -are expected to fall this Eid season due mainly to low prices of crops, according to manufacturers and traders.
The traditional wears are common items in Eid shopping. The low-income bracket people, especially the 15.3 million farm households, are the biggest buyers of these locally-made cheap clothes.
Local manufacturers and experts said the rural economy and sales of lungi and sarees are linked directly. If the rural economy becomes vibrant, the sales of these common items rise.
They said this time farmers' hands are empty due to fall in prices of major crops including Boro paddy and potato while the ongoing Aman cultivation also exhausted their last means.
However, they predicted the overall sales would fall by 25-30 per cent this Eid than that of last year.
Islampur in Old Dhaka and Baburhat Bazar in Narsingdi are the major wholesale markets for locally-made low-priced lungis and sarees.
According to the Islampur Cloth Merchants Association, the Baburhat Cloth Merchants Co-operative Samity and the Bangladesh Dokan Malik Samity, nearly 50 million pieces of lungi and 70 million pieces of saree were sold out before last Eid-ul-Fitr, the highest recorded in the last one decade.
Al-Haj Mozahidul Islam, owner of M/S S. Nahar Enterprise at Mohammedia Market in Islampur, who sell Smart, Standard, Decent and Fazar Ali brand lungis told the FE that the crowds of retailers and wholesalers across the country were good at the beginning of Ramadan.
But most of the shop owners in different parts of the country opted for buying products which mainly have a demand in urban areas (upazila headquarters), he said.
Dresses like salwar kamij, kurta, fatua, kids' wear, pant and shirt pieces, T-shirts etc are in great demand.
"But demand for sarees and lungis is lesser," he said.
"Lungis and sarees are purchased by affluent Muslims for Zakat purposes," he said.
 "The sales might decline by 25-30 per cent this year than that of last year "
However, Mr Islam has in his shop lungis priced at between Tk 150 and Tk 2,000 a piece.        
Sohidul Islam (Babu), owner of Sobhan Fabrics at Hossain Market in Islampur sell Mala, Pakija and Mehedi brand sarees and Amanatshah, ATM and Anushandhan brand lungis.
"The prices of saree and lungi haven't increased thanks to stagnancy in yarn prices, but we failed to take the advantage due to poor sales," he said.  
"Last year, I sold sarees worth Tk 0.5 million per day in Ramadan which is now less than Tk 0.3 million this year", he said.
"We are now totally depending on cloth sales for Zakat purposes, but it also declined this year," he added. However, Mr Babu has in his shop sarees prices of which range between Tk 200 and Tk 2,500.
Mirza Imran Hossain (Shobuj), Organising Secretary of Islampur Cloth Merchant Association told the FE that such locally-made and cost-effective sarees and lungis are mainly sold in rural areas and a big portion are purchased by rich Muslims for Zakat purposes.
He said: "According to traders from the rural areas, village people have no money in their hands following low prices of Boro crop in the harvesting season and for the ongoing Aman crop cultivation which has drained out their purses."
He said last year 7,500 cloth merchants of Islampur sold nearly 30 million pieces of lungi and 40 million pieces of sarees which were manufactured in Sirajganj, Pabna, Kushtia, Tangail, Jessore, Naraynganj, Munshiganj, Narshingdi and Dhaka districts.   
However, many traders said the recent stampede incident in Mymensingh that killed 27 women and children, who were in a hurry to get Zakat cloths, also caused a decline in cloth sales as many of the rich Muslims are now paying charity handouts in the form of cash.  
Md Jamal Uddin, proprietor of Smart Lungi, a Narsingdi-based company, said demand for lungi has declined drastically this year as village people have no money.
"Limited income people in rural areas are main buyers of the locally-made products. As they have no money, it would hit the local manufacturers hard," he said.
"We are not getting customers even though we offer much lower prices than that of last year," he said.   
Mr Jamal, who also exports the item, said most of the manufacturers could hardly get back their Eid investments.
He said nearly 15 million pieces of lungi and 20 million pieces of sarees were sold from Baburhat last year.  
Additional research director at the local think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem said prices of major crops have a direct impact on the farm- based rural economy.
He said farmers faced price debacle in Boro and potato seasons which has reduced the rural purchasing power.
The development economist also pointed out that the country's private sector investment remained almost static affecting the employment generation.
He said: "An alternative way of employment is manpower export, which is also declining."
"Ensuring incentive (profitable) prices for crops can make the rural economy vibrant, which might help boost local manufacturing industries," he added.
According to the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), paddy sold at Tk 420-Tk 550 per maund in the Boro harvesting season against a production cost of Tk 700- Tk 720 per maund.
Potato prices also declined to Tk 1.5-Tk 2.5 per kg against a production cost of Tk 5.5-Tk 6 per kg, according to the DAM.     
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