Home ›› 19 Dec 2022 ›› Nation
While the pineapple cultivation season is mainly from June to August, the fruit is now cultivated all year round in Tangail’s Madhupur upazila.
Local sources said the cultivation is mainly gaining traction in Ghatail and Sakhipur upazilas of the district.
Previously, the most cultivated variety in the hilly areas of Madhupur was giant kew pineapples. However, recently the cultivation of honey queen pineapples has increased in the region.
The giant kew varieties weigh about 3 kg on average, whereas honey queen pineapples are small and weigh around 1 kg.
Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) imported one lakh seedlings of the high-yielding MD-2 variety from Philippines. The seedlings were distributed among 17 pineapple farmers in the upazila.
The MD-2 variety is very sweet and has a longer shelf life after harvest. Hence, it does not need any chemical supplement to prevent rotting.
Pineapple cultivation in the upazila began in the late sixties with the help of Bherena Sangma who brought some giant kew varieties from India’s Meghalaya. Since the business proved profitable, more people started cultivating pineapple in the area.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Tangail, this year pineapple was cultivated on 7,600 hectares of land in the district, 455 hectares more than last year. Among this 5,850 hectares is in Madhupur upazila.
Garobazar on the border of Ghatail and Madhupur upazilas and Jalchhatra are the two largest pineapple markets in the area. The markets are organised every Sunday and Wednesday of the week. However, pineapples are sold every day on a small scale in other markets of the district
Farmers queue up at the market with pineapples on bicycles and vans. The wholesalers purchase pineapples from them and take them to specific warehouses. It is then packaged and loaded into trucks to be sent all over the country where fruit vendors and shopkeepers buy them.
Farmer Samad Miah of Sanbandha village of Lakkhinder union of Ghatail said in the previous few years pineapple has fetched a good price. This year he has planted 9,000 saplings for a cost of Tk 70,000 and sold the harvest for about Tk 1.5 lakh.
Yunus Miah, a farmer of Kajala village in the upazila, said each pineapple costs Tk 15-20 taka from planting to harvest and are sold for a wholesale rate of Tk 45-50 per piece.
Sajjad Rahman, a school teacher in Garobazar, said farmers are happy about getting a fair price for their harvest. “However, there are some dishonest farmers who use chemicals to ripen the harvest early. Those fruits taste bad and are harmful to human health,” he added.
According to the farmers, organically cultivated pineapples are small in size and in less demand due to their pale colouring. These pineapples also have a short shelf life. However, chemical-injected pineapples are larger and have an attractive yellow colour. Hence, buyers are more interested in those.
Marketing and storage of pineapples are currently the main problems of farmers. The fruits are prone to rotting and if they are not marketed on time the farmers have to sell them at a low price.
According to the farmers, the price of pineapple depends on supply and demand and currently, they are selling it for Tk 25-35 per piece.
Bangabandhu National Agriculture Award-winning farmer Sanowar Hossain of the upazila said the late-bearing pineapples are known as Ashwina and they are cultivated in late October to early November.
“I have about 2,000 Ashwina pineapples on my farm. These are slightly sour to taste. They will soon be ripe enough to harvest,” he said, adding that he is expecting a good price for his harvest.
Nazrul Islam of Haludiya village cultivates pineapples alongside his office job. He planted 2,000 pineapple saplings this season on 700 decimals of land.
“Storage is the main problem in pineapple cultivation since the fruits rot quickly. If the fruits are not in good condition we have to sell them for a lower price,” he said.
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Tangail, Deputy Director Ahsanul Bashar said pineapple cultivation has increased in the region as there is a good demand for it.
“Due to its short shelf life, it is not possible to export the fruit abroad. However, the MD-2 variety brought from the Philipines has a longer shelf life,” he said, adding that the fruits of this variety last for over a month after harvest without rotting.
He further said that many farmers use growth hormones to ripen the fruits faster and while the use of such chemicals is permitted, it should be used in limited dosages.
“Any excess chemicals are harmful to the human body. We are trying to ensure that farmers do not use extra hormones in pineapples,” Ahsanul said.
