High yield, low price
Despite a bumper yield of betel nut in Bagerhat this year, cultivators remain upset due to not getting the expected market price.
They alleged a syndicate is active in controlling the price of betel nuts, depriving most farmers and small traders.
Last year, a bundle of betel nuts (one kuri consisting of 231 pieces) sold for Tk 800, but this year the price has dropped to between Tk 250-500.
Plantation owners said due to high yield, the market price was high at the beginning of the season but dropped significantly after a few weeks. A syndicate of a few local traders took advantage of it and are buying betel nuts in bulk and selling those to wholesalers directly.
Therefore, wholesale buyers from different parts of the country are not visiting the major betel nut markets, including Badal Haat in Kachua upazila and Mazar Haat in Bagerhat Sadar, forcing producers to sell betel nuts at lower prices to local traders, said Abul Hossain Khan, a betel nut grower from Sangdia village in Kachua upazila.
Another farmer of the same village, Bhaskar Banerjee, said, "I have to pay Tk 10 to collect a bunch of betel nuts from a tree. Then there's the cost of removing the betel nuts from the bunch, counting them, and transporting them to the market. Selling around 230 betel nuts for Tk 250 to Tk 450 leaves me with very little return."
Local traders, however, denied there was any syndicate involvement in the markets.
Narayan Chandra Bawali, one of the biggest betel nut traders in Kachuar upazila, said they are buying betel nuts at Tk 250-600 per bundle and sending them to different places, including Rangpur.
"The betel nuts are coming to haats in huge quantities, so the price is low. There is no syndicate here," said Shahid Khan, another trader.
"Bagerhat district has 3,960 hectares of betel nut plantations. In fiscal year 2022-23, around 26,133 tonnes of betel nuts were produced in the district. We are hopeful the production will be higher this year," said Shankar Kumar Majumdar, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Bagerhat.
Regarding the syndicate, the officials said they will look into the issue.
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