Mango producers have fallen into a lockdown trap again this year as the demand has declined in the big cities amid decreasing purchase capacity of customers as well as restrictions on intercity travel, said insiders.
Both the farmers and traders, involved in commercial farming of the fruit in the country's northern and southern regions, are now in despair over getting back their investments, fearing extension of the lockdown further.
As per the direction of the local administration, gardeners in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts started collecting and trading the matured 'Guti' variety of mango from May 15.
Gopalbhog, an early variety, will be allowed for trading from today (Thursday), while Laxmanbhog, Ranipasand, Himsagar or Khirshapat could be brought to the market after one week as per the government instructions, said traders.
Traders involved in the fruit business said the demand witnessed a 30-40 per cent plunge, compared to normal times, in the urban regions like Dhaka and Chattogram due to the pandemic, thus causing losses.
Gardeners in Satkhira, Rajshahi and Chapainawa-bganj have already started collecting Gopalbhog and Gobindobhog varieties of mango, but local wholesale markets are yet to get momentum.
Rise in transportation costs as well as low demand, has been forcing many fruit businesses in the cities to stop importing those from the growing districts, said traders.
Meanwhile, hundreds of online based traders are in the market to make profits by supplying mangoes to city dwellers at much higher rates than those at the garden level.
Hamidur Rahman, a mango gardener at Tanore in Rajshahi, said he started collecting Gopalbhog mango from his seven hectares of garden from Tuesday.
'Khirshapat' variety has almost been matured - this must be collected within three or four days, he said.
"I've gone to Baneshwar Bazar in Rajshahi today, but there is no crowd of traders from distant districts," he said.
He said the condition seemed like that of the last year when trading declined 60-70 per cent in the region.
"I incurred Tk 0.25 million losses last year amid a fall in prices. This year I've invested Tk 0.35 million and fear for losses further," he said.
He said the production was also 10-15 per cent low this year amid the drought coupled with incidents of nor'westers with hailstorm in April.
This season Rajshahi is expecting 0.22 million tonnes of mango from 17,940 hectares of land, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Rajshahi.
Crowd of traders from Dhaka, Chattogram, Narayanganj, Gazipur or Cumilla is yet to be seen at Kansat in Chapainawabganj, the biggest mango market in the country.
Mominul Patwary, a mango trader at Kansat, said the market used to buzzwith Dhaka and Chattogram traders during the March-June period.
But the number of traders is much lower this year, like the previous year, due to the ongoing lockdown, which has suspended intercity bus and train services, he said.
According to the DAE, above 33,000 hectares of land were brought under commercial mango farming in Chapainawabganj this year to produce 0.25 million tonnes of the fruit.
Satkhira gardeners have already started collection of Gopalbhog and Gobindobhog mangoes from their orchards but are getting low response in the market.
Farid Hossain, a mango grower from Parulia union of Debhata upazila in Satkhira, said there was no trader from distant districts while local wholesalers were offering Tk 35-38 a kg for Gopalbhog.
"I'm expecting 30-31 tonnes of Himsagar and Gopalbhog mangoes from my two hectares of land," he said.
"If the price doesn't rise above Tk 50 a kg, it would be impossible to get back even my investment of Tk 0.45 million," he said.
He said Himsagar, the major variety in Satkhira, will be traded from May 21.
"The market condition might not change if intercity buses and trains are not allowed to ply," he said.
Mango growers in Naogaon, Natore and Rangpur, famous for late varieties like Haribhanga and Amrapali, are also concerned though their harvest will begin in June.
DAE Director General Md Asadullah said they were expecting 2.6 million tonnes of mango output from more than 0.9 million trees.
Mohammad Ali Hossain, a leading fruit trader in Dhaka, said the trading would rise to some extent compared to the last year, but it would be still 30-40 per cent less than the normal years.
He said the restriction on intercity journey was causing a severe blow to fruit trading.
Dhaka city alone consumes more than 0.4 million tonnes of mango from Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Satkhira and Rangpur - the trend might decline severely this year also, he said.
Many traders are also squeezing trade volume because of the higher transportation cost, which has risen by 40-50 per cent than normal times, and the decline in demand.
Agri economist Golam Hafeez Kennedy said the government had taken a good initiative by opening railway parcel service on several routes.
"But it is not enough as it could only trade 1.0-2.0 per cent of the produce…," he said.
The government should make the transportation of farm products smooth in order to help both farmers and consumers during this pandemic, he said.
He said the export of mango was still very low - below 1,000 tonnes. "Export should be increased to compensate losses in the domestic market."
Farmers should be given cash incentives for their losses while they should also be provided with loans at below 4.0 per cent interest, he said.
He said capacity of local agro processors would have to be increased notably to maximise the sale of mango in the domestic market.
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