Jahangir Alam, a farmer of Nargun village of Thakurgaon Sadar Upazila, cultivated cucumber on three bigha land. This Sunday morning, he came to the city’s wholesale vegetable market with cucumbers. Even after waiting, the buyer was not available. Later, he sold cucumbers for 100 taka per bag of 80 kg to a dealer. Artaddar sold those cucumbers to local traders for Tk 200 per bag. Raw material trader of the city’s Kalibari market. Parvez is buying that cucumber and selling it at 15 taka per kg.

Not only vegetables, now the price difference of all types of vegetables from farmer to consumer level is like this. The prices of some vegetables including cucumber, tomato, brinjal, gourd have fallen. The farmers are forced to sell those vegetables to the fariyas. The fariyas are handing it over to the businessman. The consumer has to buy the vegetable at several times higher price due to the trader’s hand. On the one hand the farmers are counting the losses, on the other hand the common consumers are also getting cheated.

There is extensive vegetable cultivation in Thakurgaon. Generally, wholesalers collect vegetables from farms and supply them to different districts of the country. Some farmers bring vegetables directly to the wholesale market and sell them. Today in the city’s Govindanagar wholesale vegetable market, farmers have brought different varieties of vegetables. He is selling those vegetables to the hawkers by bargaining.

Nur Hossain, a farmer of Purba Begunbari village of Sadar Upazila, brought a few sacks of cucumbers on an easy bike. But it was not selling. At the end, he sold cucumbers at the price of one and a half taka per kg to Faria. Nur Hossain said, “The price of cucumber in the market, the cost of wages is not rising. This time I planted cucumbers and caught them.’ After a while, it was seen that the farmer sold cucumbers for 200 taka per bag to the trader.

Abul Hossain, a farmer of Sahbajpur village in Baliadangi, has come to sell tomatoes. Abul Hossain said, ‘Tomatoes are on the verge of spoiling because they are kept for too long. I brought it to the market under compulsion. But no price. I sold tomatoes for 5 rupees per kg. The price has never been so bad before.

Mansoor Ali, a farmer of Kaharpara village, was planting gourds on his 40th century land. Lau came to sell gourds and waited for buyers in the sun from 7:30 am to 9:30 am. In the end, he sold 35 gourds to Faria for 100 taka. Mansoor Ali said, “I couldn’t raise even five thousand rupees by selling the farm gourds.”

Cucumber grower Sanatan Roy of Rautnagar village of Ranishankail upazila said, “Two weeks ago, cucumbers were sold at the rate of Tk 800 per maund. No buyers now. Bringing cucumbers to sell, the vatav has survived 380 taka minus the rent.

Today, in the wholesale market, each gourd is sold at 16 taka, per kg long brinjal 12 to 15, chichinga 17, bitter gourd 20, patol 12, drumstick 13, barbati 20 taka. In the Kalibari market of the city, it was seen that desi cucumber 25 per kg, hybrid cucumber 15, tomato 20, gourd 15 to 20 per kg, long brinjal 25 per kg, chichinga 25, bitter gourd 40, drumsticks 20, patol 20, barbati were sold at the rate of Tk 40.

Belal Hossain, a resident of the city’s Ashrampara Mohalla, came to Kalibari market to buy vegetables, said, “Farmers sell cucumbers at one and a half taka per kg, but we consumers buy them at taka 15 to 25.” Such a price difference between farmers and consumers cannot be accepted.

In this regard Mehdi Ahsan Ullah Chowdhury of Chameshwari village who received the ‘Bangabandhu National Agriculture Award’ said, ‘We grow many vegetables. We have to rely on wholesalers for our sales. The wholesalers sell those vegetables to the traders at a higher price. Traders raise prices again. We grow crops with difficulty in the face of storms and rains. And wholesale traders profit.

Raw material trader of Kalibari market. Parvez said, all the vegetables they bring to the shop are not sold in one day. A lot of time is wasted. Many buyers pick vegetables. So, if you don’t sell two to four taka higher than the purchase price, you have to calculate the loss.

Thakurgaon assistant director of the National Consumer Rights Protection Directorate Sheikh Sadi told Prothom Alo that they do not do any trading in the raw market. It is difficult to ascertain who is charging more for this. Sakhwat Hossain, Agricultural Marketing Officer of Thakurgaon said that farmers are regularly visiting the market so that they get the right price for their produce.