Fortune smiles on banana growers in Pirojpur

Banana cultivation has changed the economic condition of the people living on the banks of the Baleshwar river in the district.

People of Pirojpur Sadar and Indurkani upazilas of the district, and Morelganj upazila of Bagerhat, have been cultivating banana for around 45 years, and it is one of the main cash crops of thousands of farmers of those areas.

“Banana has been commercially cultivated in these areas since the liberation of the country,” said Abdul Kader Sikder, a cultivator from Dorirchar Gazipur village in Indurkani upazila. Only one or two local varieties of banana used to be cultivated before, while six varieties -- sagor, sobri, agnisagar, green banana, champa and kathali -- are cultivated now, he said.

Sagor, sobri and champa are seasonal and kathali and green banana are found all the year round.

After sowing banana plants in the Bangla month of Baishakh, farmers can collect the fruit within a year. Several banana plants grow from the roots of a mature banana tree, and they are planted next. Farmers can collect bananas for over two months at the end of winter.

The farmers are afraid of natural calamities. “If a storm hits our orchards, it damages banana trees, causing huge losses,” said Sarwar Hossain, a farmer from Pirojpur Sadar upazila.

There is great demand for the tasty bananas of this area in other parts of the country. They are transported to Dhaka and other places by launch and truck.

“In the past we would depend on water transport only and it would take time to take the bananas to the wholesale markets,” said Khalilur Rahman, a banana trader from Chingrakhali village in Morelganj upazila, adding that they can now transport them easily by truck to any part of the country, including Dhaka, within a day. 

Local wholesale buyers buy chemical free banana from the orchard and pay cash to farmers.

Farmers said they have to spend around Tk 25,000 in the first year for cultivating banana, including preparing the land, adding that the cost decreases to around Tk 12,000 the next year.

They can get around Tk 20,000 as profit from the produce of one bigha of land.

Eighty bananas are sold between Tk 250 and Tk 500, depending on variety and size, to the wholesale buyers.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension in Pirojpur Md Abul Hossain Sarkar said different varieties of bananas have been cultivated on 1,252 hectares of land in the district.

Pirojpur Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Hasan Warisul Kabir said the water, soil and environment of the district are suitable for cultivating bananas, adding that proper training can help farmers cultivate this cash crop scientifically.