Floating rice market in Barishal losing attraction

The 200-year old floating rice market in Banaripara upazila of Barishal has been losing its significance although hundreds of farmers’livelihood depends on the market.

Hundreds of buyers from all over the country, such as Dhaka, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Khulna, Faridpur, Jessore, used to throng this market to procure different varieties of rice from dawn to mid-noon, four days a week.

Back in the mid-nineties, over 25,000 people, almost 90 per cent of the area’s total residents, earned their daily bread by selling rice at the market.

However, the number of traders has fallen drastically to stand merely at 1,000, with some 50 boats selling their rice varieties at lower prices than other markets.

According to locals, the market dealt its first blow in 1989-90, when the “Kutiyal Bidroho” movement sparked a rift among local farmers and money lenders. Traders, business people became reluctant to come to the market due the strife, which went on for years among the involved parties.

Also, river erosion took a toll on the farmers of the district, devouring

their households and croplands for years. Most farmers left their profession to fight the economic

instabilities they were in after losing their capital.

The floating market was set up in Barishal to facilitate easier transportation to the adjacent districts through the various rivers they were surrounded by some 200 years back.

However, as most rivers in the area lost their navigability and road communication developed over the years, the floating rice market lost its value to both buyers and sellers.

The floating rice market open up twice a week – Saturdays and Tuesdays – from 7:00 am to 12:00 pm at the west side of Banaripara Bazar and the east side of the Shandhya river, around 25 kilometres away from Barishal District Headquarters.

Farmers from Banaripara upazila’s Noleshree, Didihar, Dandyat, Baishari, Masjidbari, Aura, Kalibazar, Chakhar, Bakpur, Jhirakathi, Bhatasar villages largely depends on this floating rice market till now as it is the only source of their livelihood.

Amzad Hossain, a farmer of Aura village, said he along with wife process rice all night and then uses his boat to take it to at the market for sale.

Abdus Sattar, another farmer of the area, told The Business Post that he has been selling rice in this market since his childhood but has now became penniless after facing loses due to a lack of buyers.

“If the government provided us with loans, cash assistance, incentives and other facilities, we could have continued this business,” he said.

He also said that more and more farmers are losing interest and opting for other professions because they are not getting fair prices for their crops. As buyers are limited, they are forced to sell their rice at a much lower price than the local markets.

On a field visit to the market, it was found that one maund of rice sells for Tk 1,700 while the same amount gets sold at Tk 1,900 to Tk 2,000 at the local market.

Humayun Kabir, a trader who came to the market to buy rice, told The Business Post that almost-extinct rice varieties such as Balam, Godail, and Mongla can still be found here. That is why the market has remained popular among them.

Reminiscing its’ old glory, Sabina Yasmin, additional deputy director of Barishal Department of Agricultural Extension branch, said in the past, river communication was major mode of transport in the region due to its many canals and rivers.