Bananas produced in the hill district Bandarban have a great demand across the country, as growers do not mix any chemicals to ripen and preserve the fruit.
According to local sources, growers of seven upazilas of the district usually cultivate bananas on the hillside. As the hilly land is very fertile, farmers do not need to use any fertiliser to boost production of the sweet fruit, which are excellent sources of vitamin B, soluble fibre, and contain moderate amounts of vitamin C, manganese and potassium.
Farmers of Bandarban produce various kinds of bananas, including Champa, Anaji, Sobri, Sagar and Suryamukhi.
Sumon Patowari, a farmer in Matiranga area, said they did not mix any chemicals to preserve bananas as they did not need to stockpile the fruit because of huge demand.
Afzal Hossain, a wholesaler at Bandarban Bazar, said: “As farmers do not use any fertilser and pesticide to grow bananas, the production cost of the fruits is less than any others crops.
“And for this reason, farmers can sell the fruits at lower prices.”
He said bananas had huge demand among tourists, and most of the travellers buy the hilly bananas while going back to their homes after visiting the district.
Normally, a bunch of bananas is sold for Tk50 to Tk100 by growers, he said, adding that a trader can make a profit of Tk200 to Tk300 by selling them. Growers mainly sell bananas twice in a week.
During a recent visit to Bandarban Bazaar, this correspondent found that workers were loading bananas on trucks to take those to different parts of the country.
Saiful Mahmud, a tourist who came from the capital, said he along with his family had visited the hill district and enjoyed its panoramic beauty.
“During the visit, we ate hilly bananas and liked them very much,” he said, adding that as he was leaving the district, he came to the kitchen market to buy banana.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, a total of 750 hectares of land have been brought under banana cultivation this year. Production per hectare of land has been fixed at 20 tonnes.
The DAE sources said the production target had been exceeded this time, and that encouraged banana growers a lot.
The sources said if farmers use modern methods instead of traditional methods, production of the fruit would increase tremendously.
Dr Bimol Kuman Pramanik, upazila agriculture officer, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had undertaken massive programmes to encourage farmers to cultivate bananas on their land.
