In lockdown, guava at the floating market fell from Tk 400–500 a maund to Tk 200
In the 2021 lockdown, wholesalers and tourists stayed away from Bhimruli floating market in Jhalokathi. One grower could not sell half of his two maunds by 11am; guava fetched Tk 5 a kg at the market while selling for Tk 40–50 in town.
Swarupkathi-variety guava has been grown for about 200 years in Bhimruli beel in Jhalokathi Sadar and the surrounding canals. In the monsoon a floating market of boats sets up on the canal, and wholesalers from different parts of the country and tourists come.
According to a July 2021 report in The Daily Star, because of the lockdown hardly any wholesalers came that season, and tourism was also shut. At the start of the season guava was selling at the market for just Tk 5 a kilo, sometimes for half that. Guava worth Tk 400 to 500 a maund was selling for Tk 200. One farmer took two maunds of guava by boat to Bhimruli market in the morning and by 11am had not managed to sell even half.
A wholesaler who at this time of year used to send 300 maunds of guava a day to Shyambazar in Dhaka saw his demand fall to less than half. Yet at the same time guava was selling in Jhalokathi town for Tk 40 to 50 a kilo. A retail seller at the market said, 'Guava rots quickly and can't be stored. So we have to sell it for next to nothing.' The same thing had happened the previous year during the pandemic. The agriculture department said it would draw up a list of affected farmers.
Lessons
- 1.Guava cannot be stored, so income depends on wholesalers turning up; relying on one market and one set of buyers is a big risk.
- 2.Tk 5 at the market versus Tk 40–50 in town: any direct route to town or retail buyers cushions a crisis.
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