Kutubpur banana market in Sakhipur Upazila, Tangail District, arguably the largest banana market of the northern region of Bangladesh, has gained immense popularity for its huge and high-quality supply.
The market takes place twice a week, on Sunday and Wednesday. Over the week, around Tk1 crore worth of bananas are sold. Wholesalers from Dhaka, Mymensingh, Chittagong and Sylhe gather at the market to buy the fruit at reasonable prices. Of the total amount sold, 30% goes to Dhaka, while the rest goes to other districts.
The Banana traders of Kutubpur market claim that it is the largest banana bazaar in the entire northern region. Bananas produced in Kutubpur, Barochowna, Daripaka, Sreepur, Tayladhara, Mucharia Pathar, Shalgrampur, Fulbaria upazila's Garobazar, Ghatail upazila's Sagardighi, Jordighi, and many other places, are stockpiled and sold here.
Fazal Mia, a trader in Kutubpur, said: "Around 20-25 trucks of bananas are going to different districts of the country from here during each hat. Seven large storehouses have been set up here to meet such huge demand."
Traders said the prices of bananas are comparatively high this year. A bunch of bananas is being sold at anything from Tk100 to Tk500, depending on the size and variety of the fruit.
Another banana trader, Mia Hossain, said the price is a bit high here but the quality is much better than at other markets. The price of a medium quality banana bunch is Tk300 on average.
Hazarat Ali, a banana farmer from Garobazar, said he cultivated around 1,500 banana trees on 4.5 bhigas of land this year. "I will get around Tk80,000 worth of bananas from each bigha with a cultivation cost of Tk30,000."
Mujibur Rahman Fakir, local UP member and president of the market's traders' association, said Kutubpur market has become famous for its huge stock of high quality bananas and record sales.
