Vehicles loaded with bananas started arriving at the market in the early morning. Banana farmers unloaded the bananas from the transport and arranged them beautifully at the designated place of the market. Then the bargaining for buying and selling bananas began. As the day progressed, the entire area became bustling with buyers and sellers.
We are talking about the Pirijpur Banana Market in Bajitpur Upazila of Kishoreganj. The bananas here are being sent to the capital and the whole country to meet the demand. Currently, farmers are leaning towards cultivation as the price of bananas in the market is high.
About 40 trucks of bananas are sold at every market on Fridays and Mondays in this market. The market value of which is more than Tk crore. These bananas are sent to different parts of the country.
When visiting the banana market in Pirijpur Bazar of Bajitpur Upazila on the Dhaka-Kishoreganj regional highway, it was seen that farmers who brought bananas have arranged banana baskets on both sides of the highway and arranged them in piles. Traders are bargaining with farmers to buy bananas. Since the market is crowded, farmers are asking for a higher price at the beginning. Traders are also bargaining as much as possible to buy bananas.
Several traders said that currently, Anupam bananas are being sold at Tk 700 to 800 per basket and Chini Champa at Tk 400 to 500 per basket. This market is held on Sunday and Wednesday of the week. On average, about 40 trucks of bananas go from these two markets to various divisional, district and upazila cities including Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Tangail, Pabna, Sirajganj, Rajshahi, Natore, Bogra, Naogaon, Joypurhat, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat and other far-flung cities. Traders also said that each truck carries at least Tk 3 lakh worth of bananas.
The vendors said that their ancestors used to sell bananas at this market. Farmers also get good prices as wholesalers from far and wide come to the market to buy bananas. Thousands of buyers and sellers gather at this traditional banana market, which has been going on for many years. They have to suffer due to lack of space in the market. Locals have demanded that the size of the market be increased along with improving the transportation system to maintain the tradition of the market.
Banana farmer Anil Chandra Roy said that he has cultivated bananas on 1 bigha of land this time, brought 100 banana bunches to the market, and sold them for Tk 45,000.
Another banana farmer Jalil sold each bunch of bananas for Tk 390. Banana trader Md. Rais Uddin Talukder, who came from Dhaka, said that the price of good quality bananas is high. Another trader Md. Jalal Uddin came from Kuliarchar. He said that the price of bananas was even higher a month ago.
Kishoreganj District Agriculture Officer Abul Kalam Azad said that apart from this traditional market in Bajitpur, there are several other banana markets, big and small, in the district. Famous varieties of bananas of the district are sold here. He said that the Department of Agricultural Extension provides advice and assistance to farmers to increase banana cultivation.
ZH
