Coronavirus Fallout: Vegetable growers count huge losses

One such farmer Saad Mia said he cultivated bitter melon on a 45-decimal but now he was not getting right price for the vegetable because of rapidly decreasing demand of perishable vegetables.

Our correspondent found Saad, who grow vegetables at Haripur village in Cumilla's Meghna upazila, at Shyambazar wholesale market in Dhaka while he was separating rotten bitter melons from the good ones.

"I am offering these vegetables at Tk 60 per kilogramme which is half of its production cost. Still, I do not have customers," he said, adding that he brought around 50 kg bitter melons at Shyambazar.

He later sold his vegetables to a retailer at Tk 40 per kg in front of the correspondent.

According to Saad, he cultivated the bitter melons risking his life amid the Covid-19 outbreak and had a bumper production, yet he had a lot to worry about his future considering the situation.

"I am ruined. I will lose over Tk 1 lakh this season," tearful Saad said.

Amid the countrywide shutdown, people nowadays are visiting kitchen markets less often. Besides, many are prone to buy dry foods and slow perishable items.

Vegetable farmers are bearing the brunt of this situation. The situation was so bad that in some cases farmers were also seen not plucking their vegetables and letting those damage in the fields.

Al-Amin, a farmer who has been farming for the last 32 years in Narayanganj's Sonargaon, this year cultivated ladies' fingers, asparagus beans, red spinach and malabar spinach on 45 decimal lands.

He used to sell his vegetables directly at a kitchen market in the capital's Jatrabari area in the previous years.

"Let alone the Jatrabari market, I cannot even sell my vegetables at the local market now," he said, adding that he was afraid of losing Tk 50,000 this season.

He also said, "What is even more painful is many customers owe me around Tk 25,000 but they are not repaying me because of the crisis."

Visiting two big wholesale markets in the capital, our correspondents found that vegetables were being sold at a cheaper price than the usual.

Per kg tomato was sold Tk 10, ladies' finger at Tk 20-Tk 30, snake gourd at Tk 15-Tk 20 and brinjal at Tk 15-Tk 20.

Ahmedul Haque, a banker who visited Shantinagar Kitchen Market, said many people were prone to spend more money on dry items and foods that could be stored for longer period considering the recent situation.

"That is why the demand of vegetables is downward," he added.

Rokan Uddin, a vegetable wholesaler at Karwanbazar, said due to the fear of coronavirus spread, people were avoiding open kitchen markets.

"That is why retailers are buying less and we too are collecting less from local farmers," he said, adding that this created an imbalance in the whole supply chain.

In Jashore, the situation of vegetable farmers is so bad that some broke down in tears, reported our Benapole correspondent.

Rabiul Islam Robi, a farmer in Noapara upazila of Jashore, said, "We are counting a loss of Tk 12 each kg Potol [pointed gourd]. We used to sell those at Tk 40 per kg earlier, but now we barely able to sell it at Tk 28 per kg."

Sukkur Ali, another farmer in the district, said if the loss continued they would not be able to cultivate vegetables next season.

Asked, KAS Murshid, director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said the government could initiate micro-credit loan for vegetable growers to encourage them in the coming days.