The city’s banana market size has reached around Tk 7.0 million at wholesale level a day during this holy month of Ramadan, senior banana traders told the FE. The senior traders said this based on the trucks that arrived each day at the city’s seven wholesale markets. They also said the market size at retail level during this Ramadan is over Tk 10 million a day in the city. Md Abdul Kuddus Hawladar, proprietor of Ferojpur Farm at Waisghat in the city said: “Around 35 trucks loaded with bananas enter the city’s wholesale markets each day. Each truck is loaded with bananas worth Tk 200,000 on an average.” However, the price of bananas remained a record high this time because of bad weather in northern districts especially in Dinajpur, the main growing district.

“We are selling a ‘paun’ (80 pieces) of quality bananas at Tk 400 at wholesale level, which is around 40 per cent up from last year,” Momtaz Mian of Sumi Traders at Tejgaon told the FE.

However, small-sized bananas are being sold at Tk 200 to Tk 220 each ‘paun’.

Last year, its prices dropped, thanks to a surge in the supply.

Currently, local as well as Nepali varieties of Sagar and Chamapa are available and the lion’s share of these bananas comes from Dinajpur and the others from Tangail.

But, traders said, consumption of bananas has not increased this Ramadan as expected due to rainy weather.

“This year demand for bananas has surged to around 15 per cent,” Md Aslam, a trader of ‘Allahar Dan’ at Jatrabari wholesale market, told the FE.

Bananas, mainly of Sagar variety, are now entering the city from greater Dinajpur.

Md Dipu Talukdar, a leading banana trader and proprietor of Masud Traders at Waisghat in the city, said many banana traders are incurring losses this year as frequent rainfall forced them to sell the same below purchase prices.

There are two ways of procuring banana, one is thorough ‘dadan’ or advance lending to the farmers by the traders and the other is the direct procurement from local market of banana growing areas.

Major wholesale markets the city are Waisghat, Buckland Bundh, Badamtoli, Jatrabari, Tejgaon, Mirpur and Natunbazar at Gulshan.

Jasim Uddin Haroon

Courtesy: The Financial Express