Chilli, aubergine growers face
losses for price fall
S Dilip Roy . Lalmonirhat
CHILLI and aubergine growers in Lalmonirhat are facing heavy losses due to sharp fall of their prices in the local markets.
Believe it or not! The growers have to sell 20 kg of chilli to buy only one kg of rice, the staple food. Chilli per kg is now selling in the wholesale markets at Tk 2 only while aubergine at Tk 3. In the retail markets one kg of chilli is selling at Tk 4 and aubergine at Tk 5.
The low demand was attributed to the poor prices of the two crops, vegetable traders in the wholesale markets said.
Afzal Hossain, a chilli grower of village Mogholhat under sadar upazila, said, ‘I have cultivated chilli on three bighas (one bigha is equal to 0.13 hectare) of land as in the previous year. In the last year, I could earn Tk 40 thousand from the selling of chilli.’
But this year he faces losses with poor price in the market.
‘I have already spent more than Tk 25 thousand to cultivate chilli on the same land and I expect a total production of 50 maund (one maund is equal to 37.32kg). I got Tk 8 thousand selling 10 maunds of chilli last month. But in the current month I got only Tk one thousand selling 20 maunds of chilli. I now apprehend that I will have to incur a loss of Tk 20 thousand,’ Afzal said.
Chilli grower Jamsher Ali of village Bhatibari under sadar upazila said he brought one maund of chilli to sell it in Goshala Bazar Tuesday morning, spending Tk 20 as van fare. He waited for hours to get a good price but at last he had to sell it to a wholesaler at Tk 60 only.
‘My wife told me to purchase two kgs of rice, some fish and soyabeen oil and my daughter asked me to purchase a Bangla grammar book. How could I purchase those with that amount of money?’ he said with frustration.
Like chilli growers, Haripado Barman, an aubergine grower at village Kamlabari under Aditmari upazila, came to Goshala Bazar for selling three maunds of aubergine in the same morning with the hope of selling those at Tk 1,000. But he could sell those at Tk 250 only.
He said he was supposed to buy clothes for his two daughters with the money. But now he would return home empty-handed.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension in Lalmonirhat, chilli has been cultivated on 200 acres of land and aubergine on 250 acres in the district this season.
Six killed in road accidents
Our Correspondents . Gazipur and Sirajganj
AT LEAST six persons have been killed and 30 injured in separate road accidents in Gazipur and Sirajganj.
In Gazipur, four persons were killed and 30 injured in a collision between a bus and pickup van on the Dhaka–Mymensingh Highway at Feedpara in the Rajendrapur area on Monday night.
The deceased were van driver Shamsul Haque, 36, helper Dollar, 18, two chicken traders Masum, 23, and Rubel, 20.
Locals said Shamsul and Dollar died on the spot when the van and the bus collided head-on at about 9:00pm while two others died later in Gazipur General Hospital.
The injured were admitted to Gazipur General Hospital and nearby clinics.
The police seized the bus but its driver managed to flee.
A case was filed with the Joydevpur police station.
In Sirajganj, two minor boys were killed when a soil-loaded local truck crushed them on the Sirajganj–Nalka Road in the Chandidas Ganti area on Tuesday. The accident took place when they were crossing the road.
The deceased were Shakil, 5, son of Maznu Hossain, and Kabir, 5, son of Harez Ali, of village Bahuti under sadar upazila. They were also the students of Ganoshasthyo Kendra Primary School of the upazila.
The police sent the bodies to the Sirajganj General Hospital morgue for post-mortem examinations.
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