Lush green swathes of spinach at Shibpur of Narsingdi. Bumper yield of vegetables in the districts around the capital signals a tummy-happy winter for the city people this year. Farmers say favourable weather has facilitated an increased production of cauliflower, cabbage, tomato, bean, bottle gourd, carrot, aubergine and other winter vegetables. Photo: Anisur Rahman Many farmers in the areas arou
nd the capital have emerged as big suppliers of vegetables to city dwellers, especially in the winter season. Favourable weather has helped them get a good harvest this season. Vegetable farmers of Manikganj, Tangail, Narsingdi and Munshiganj as well as Savar, Keraniganj and Dhamrai now meet 60 to 70 percent of the capital's demand for winter vegetables, said traders. "The districts around Dhaka saw a bumper yield of vegetables this year. Farmers of these areas are bringing their produce to the capital for a better price," said Lokman Hossain, general secretary of Karwan Bazar Kitchen Market Wholesalers' Association. Around 450 trucks and covered vans loaded with vegetables enter Karwan Bazar kitchen market every day. Of them, 150-200 are from greater Dhaka and neighbouring districts, he said. Favourable weather is a major reason for the rise in vegetable supply to city's kitchen markets, said Mohammad Mohsin Uddin, treasurer of Shyambazar Krishi Panya Aarot Banik Samity. "Vegetables in large quantities are brought to Shyambazar by road and waterways," he said. Advertisement Loaded with vegetables, around 150 trucks and 50 boats, mainly from Munshiganj and Keraniganj, arrive at the wholesale market every day, said Mohsin. Farmers of Singair upazila in Manikganj alone supply around 20 truckloads of vegetables to the capital daily, said Belal Hossain Prottundar, a farmer in the area. He cultivates mainly seasonal vegetables including radish, onion, potato, green chilli, and carrot. "Vegetable production in Manikganj is expected to exceed last year's production, thanks to favourable weather," said Md Alimuzzaman, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Manikganj. The farmers of the district produced more than 2.10 lakh tonnes of vegetables in the last fiscal year. "Vegetable production will increase this year as the country has not witnessed any major natural disaster," he said. Farmers take a break from tending their farmland in Narsingdi's Shibpur. City-dwellers are likely to see an abundant supply of winter vegetables this year. Photo: Anisur Rahman Narsingdi, another vegetable production hub, has so far witnessed a good yield, said Subhash Chanda Gayen, deputy director of DAE in the district. "Farmers in this area are increasing crop production by 1-2 percent each year." They mainly cultivate aubergine, cauliflower, cabbage, tomato, bean, bottle gourd and pointed gourd, he mentioned. Vegetables of this district are not only supplied to Dhaka but also are exported to different countries, he added. Subhash said the district DAE has set a target to cultivate vegetables on 8,800 hectares of land this year, although Narsingdi is gradually losing arable land due to setting up of new factories. Vegetable production in different upazilas of Dhaka soared by more than 11 percent in five years from 2006. The annual vegetable production was 2.34 lakh tonnes in 2010-11 in Dhaka district including Savar, Dhamrai, Keraniganj and Dohar, up from 2.10 lakh tonnes in 2006-07, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. However, farmers are yet to make profit from their produce as most of the profit goes to the middlemen, who buy farmers' produce in bulk at a cheaper rate, and sell those for much higher prices in the capital city. "I have a good harvest of vegetables this year, but I am not getting fair price for the output," said Anwara Begum of Shibpur upazila in Narsingdi. She sells each bottle gourd for Tk 5-Tk 10 to local wholesalers, who then resell those for up to Tk 40 in city markets. "Unfair prices are highly discouraging to cultivation," she told The Daily Star over the phone. The supermarkets in the city could source directly from the farmers, which would benefit farmers and consumers, said farmers. "If supermarkets buy more from farmers in the nearby areas like Manikganj, Savar and Narsingdi, the products will be both fresher and cheaper," said Belal Hossain. Moreover, huge supply of vegetables has also brought down their prices in city's kitchen markets. Each piece of cauliflower is now selling at Tk 10-Tk 15 at Mirpur 1 kitchen market and a cabbage sells for Tk 12-Tk 20. Traders of Karwan Bazar kitchen market are selling each kilogram of radish at Tk 10-Tk 15, and bitter gourd at Tk 25-Tk 30.
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