It’s guava galore in Chattogram
Guava farmers of south Chattogram region are all smiles as they had a bumper production this year and are now busy collecting, packaging and selling the fruits to traders.
Guava of this area are famous for their taste and size. According to Chandanaish and Patiya upazila agriculture offices, guava is cultivated in around 830 hectares of hilly land in this region. Farmers sell guava worth Tk 6 crore on average every year during the season.
Farmers said guava is cultivated in thousands of orchards in the hilly areas of the two upazilas. They also said the guava of Kanchan Nagar has earned a reputation for its unique taste. Kanchan Nagar is a village in Chandanaish upazila.
Subhash Mallick, a local school teacher, said this variety of delicious guava only grows in this area due to the soil and environment.
We cannot get our due price as it's a perishable fruit and we have to sell those quickly.
During the guava season, wholesale traders from different areas throng the localities, including, Raoshan Hat, Bagicha Hat, Badam Tol, and Dohazari of Chandanaish upazila and Kamol Munshir Hat and Kharana Bus Stand of Patiya upazila.
As these areas stand on Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway, traders also find it easy to transport these to their respective destinations.
Visiting Raoshan Hat area last week, this correspondent saw cultivators coming down the hills with baskets full of guavas wrapped in red cloth.
Farmer Jane Alam said they cultivated guava on eight acres of land. He said 10 workers work at his orchards with a daily wage of Tk 500 to Tk 600.
Two baskets of guava were being sold at Tk 2,500 early this season, Alam said. The price decreased to Tk 1,500 in the middle of the season. Now it is around Tk 2,000, he said. A basket contains about 250 guavas, he added.
He, however, said there's no space to store the fruit. "We cannot get our due price as it's a perishable fruit and we have to sell those quickly," he said.
Nurul Alam, another farmer, said local agriculture office should provide them with logistics support.
Contacted, Imran Hossain, agriculture extension officer of Chandanaish upazila, said the deputy assistant agriculture officers of separate blocks regularly visit the field.
Terming south Chattogram a guava-producing zone, Imran said upazila agriculture office always provides counsel to the farmers. "When they come to us with any problem, we try to solve it," he said.