Price fall frustrates hog plum growers

Hog plum, locally known as Amra, witnessed a good yield at Barishal’s Pirojpur district this year, but failed to keep growers happy as the price of the seasonal fruit dipped during the peak harvesting season.

The vitamin-rich sweet and sour fruit grows well in different districts, especially Barishal’s Banaripara, Pirojpur’s Kaukhali, Nazirpur, Swarupkathi, and Jhalakati’s Sadar upazilas of Barishal division, said sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) sources.

According to the DAE, growers in these upazilas are commercially producing this much sought after fruit. They have produced a total of 19,897 tonnes of hog plums on 1,339 hectares of land this year.

This year, a higher yield was recorded compared to last year due to increased interest among growers, the DAE said.

Flowers of the hog plum trees appear in the Bangla months of Magh, Falgun and Chaitra (mid-January to mid-April) and the fruit is plucked from Ashar to Ashwin (mid-June to mid-September).

“The yield was better this season, although plucking started a bit late,” said growers Alamgir Hossain, Sadhan Majumdar, Mohidul.

Grower Alamgir Hossain and Mohidul of Pirojpur said they had to sell the fruit at Tk 900 to Tk 1,100 per sack – which weighs approximately 50 kilogrammes and contains around 800 hog plums – to local wholesalers.

Last year, the price was around Tk 1,800 to Tk 2000 per sack.

Echoing their remarks, another grower Md Kabir Hossain said they are incurring losses because they have no direct marketing facilities.

He also alleged that the wholesalers, vendors buy the fruit from them at a lower price and sell them at much higher prices.

Visiting these areas, The Business Post has found labourers busy plucking the fruit, which grows in abundance in these areas, while wholesalers were engaged in fruit packaging.

“I have cultivated hog plums worth Tk 15,00,000 on my three acres of land last year. However, after seeing the sharp fall in the prices,

I do not think I can even make a sale of more than Tk 10,00,000 this year,” said Sadhan Majumdar, a grower of Zindakathi area in Swarupkathi upazila of Pirojpur.

“Delivery cost of each sack of hog plum is Tk 210 to Tk215. Then, we have to pay 10% from our final sale price to the wholesalers. Each sack of the fruit sells for Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,500 in

Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet,” said Jahangir Hossain, a businessman of Kaukhali.

Kaukhali Upazila Agricultural Officer Ali Azim Sharif told The Business Post that farmers are more interested in hog plum cultivation due to the low maintenance cost and profitable cultivation. “The growers have produced a good yield this year, 10 to 15 times higher than past years.

However, they are facing a loss due to the poor marketing facilities,” said the agriculturist.

“We are hoping to supply 10 to 12 tonnes of hog plums to different areas after meeting the demand of the division this year,” said DAE Additional Director Barishal Tawfiqul Alam.