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In the red with radish

Poor prices force farmers in Jessore, Jhenidah to feed their cattle with the vegetable

MlZANUR Khan, back from Jessore
Frustrated by their inability to get back profitable returns on radish cultivation, thousands of farmers in Jessore and Jhenidah have found it better to feed their cattle with the vegetable.
In Hashempur, Kefayetnagar, and Haibatpur recently, cows could be seen eating radishes in fields on both sides of the road while farmers sat idly in their fields.
"I have no other way but to allow my cows to eat. If 1 take them to the markets that will cost me more. I want to gel rid of the production that has really added, more sufferings to my miseries. The radish production for us hqs turned into a nightmare,"
said Abdul Mulaleb, a vegetable grower in Kefayetnagar, spme 30 km away from Jessore Sadar, standing on the earthen road adjacent to his field of two bighas.
In village markets, or large market centres, as well as makeshift markets on the roadside in Jessore and Jhenidah, radishes are being sold at Tk 0.25 a kg. In different kitchen markets in Dhaka the price is around Tk 6 to 8. Yesterday at the Karwan Bazar kitchen market a kg of radish was selling a t Tk 8.
For what it costs to buy a kilogram of radishes in Dhaka, one can buy a maund in the villages of Jessore and Jhenidah. "We cannot buy a kilogram of rice by selling two
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maunds of radish. How can we survive?" asked Abdur Rahim, a vegetable fanner in lesson*
Asked to comment. Agriculture Minister MK Anwar said the gpvem-men t Is aware of the si tualion but does not have the authority in an open market economy to ensure better prices for fanners. He said the first harvest of radishes was washed away by a devastating deluge and the second one was also damaged becai tse of ceaseless downpours.
'The only way to give better price to the farmers is to buy their products at a higher price," the minister said, adding: "If we can expand the time and area of marketing for this vegetable I hope we will be able to minimise thediresituation."
Currently, radishes are grown and sold only in the winter, but experts say that radishes could be sold all year round if they were preserved in cold storage systems, like with many vegetables sold in Western markets.
Local farmers in Jessore and
Jhenidah said the land in Jessore and Jhenidah is better suited for vegetable cultivation than for rice.
They also said they are deprived of reasonable prices because they cannot market their produce directly. Farmers sell a van of radish weighing nearly 10 maunds at Ik 100 to vegetabletraders.
"We bring a hundred maunds of radish every day to warehouses but as they remain unsold at the end of the day we leave them on the roads and bring back our sacks,” said Hatem Ali, 57, a farmer in Hashempur.
Hatem said local farmers have no interest in picking radishes from their fields. They, moreover, have invited their neighbours to take radishes free of cost in order to make the fields clean and ready for the next crops.
Shabuj Mian, 49, another farmer, said they do not see any profit in bringing their radishes to city markets because of the transportation costs. "By selling vegetables we will not get back our transportation costs which will add salt to our injuries," he added.
Many farmers blamed the poor road infrastructure in rural areas for the low price of vegetables like radishes, explaining that bad mads raise transportation costs and can cause vegetables to rot before reaching markets. Local farmers, meanwhile, accused middlemen of manipulating market prices while middlemen blamed extortionists for (lie high price in city markets.
As with radishes, other vegetables are also being sold for minimal prices. Eggplants, for example, sell at Tk 5, beans at Ik 7 and spinach at Tk4.