Guava prices plummet to Kg Tk 20 upsets growers

Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :

The price of guava has fallen due to the rush of other seasonal fruits in the market. In the meantime, there is no sale of guava due to the ongoing unrest in the country and the curfew for a few days. Guava is being sold at Tk 20 per kg in the retail market. However, the farmers are not getting customers to buy guavas in the wholesale market and from orchards at the price of Tk 400-500 per maund i.e. Tk 10-12 per kg. As a result, the guava farmers of Ishwardi have faced extreme losses due to the current price of guava in the local market rather than the cost of production. Moreover, due to the attack of insects and spiders in the guava garden during the monsoon season and the guava being left unsold, the guava is rotting in the garden.
Guavas are bought from orchards and ferries in vans and there are no buyers even though huge quantities are imported in the market shops.
Guavas are also rotting in the shops due to non-sale. Due to the rotting of guavas in gardens and shops, farmers as well as traders have faced losses. Farmers blamed the ongoing situation apart from the import of mango and jackfruit for this situation. So there is a big collapse in the guava-centric economy.
Farmers are seeing darkness in the face of extreme losses. Amjad Hossain, a national medal winning guava farmer, said that thousands of guava farmers in the region are waiting in despair. Farmers are frustrated not getting real price. Farmers and traders are facing huge losses due to not getting fair price even though the yield is good.
He also said that the guava season starts in the middle of Asadha and winter Paush month in two seasons. During the monsoons, a huge amount of guava is lost in the garden due to insects and spiders.
This time, due to the ongoing situation in the country, fariyas from other districts are not able to come. Stating that there is guava plantation on 22 bigha land, he said that many are rotting in the garden due to non-sale.
If guavas are sold from the garden at Tk 400-500 per maund, how will the farmer survive? However, stating that guava production is much more than the demand, he further said that the wages of workers is Tk 700-800.