Last month’s incessant downpour and transportation woes have left Jhalakathi guava farmers counting heavy losses despite a bumper production.
About 30%-40% of the guava produced reportedly got damaged in the orchards by rainfall.
On top of which, wholesalers were already rather reluctant in purchasing the highly perishable fruit from growers doubting whether they would arrive in Dhaka, and other districts, amid countrywide hartals enforced by the Jamaat-e-Islami after Eid-ul-Fitr. Perturbed at the inevitable losses, the growers have sold guava at local markets at lower prices.
Farmers in the district often have to incur large losses due to the lack of any storage facilities. While the problems with transportation resulting in the produce arriving in the capital in 24 hours instead of the expected 7-8 hours, sources said.
Guava is cultivated on 700 hectares of land in Atghar-Kuriana, out of the total 1000 hectares in Swarupkathi upazila. Statistics show that there are 2,055 guava orchards in the upazila. Growers said motorised vessels were the main mode of transportation for carrying guava. However, only two launches operate on the Swarupkathi-Dhaka route instead of four, every day. Due to space shortage in the two passenger launches, a small quantity of guava can be transported to Dhaka during the peak season of harvest for the fruit.
Farmers said if the businessmen along with the government do not come forward and farmers don’t get a fair price, they would lose interest in cultivating this lucrative produce, they expressed concerns. The farmers also urged the government to take steps immediately to promote farming of the fruit in the upazila.