A good yield of pineapple brought smiles to the farmers of Jalchhatra area in Tangail's Madhupur upazila but low prices has cut short their happiness. Local growers are compelled to sell the juicy fruit at painfully low prices as the supply is higher than the demand in the market. Moksed Ali, a pineapple farmer, said he planted 1,000 saplings of pineapple this season and fruits came in 850 plants. “I sold each pineapple for Tk 19 while the production cost was Tk 17,” he went on saying. “We are not getting fair price though we experienced bumper production this year. The market price of pineapple is lower than that of the previous one.” he added. He went on saying “When we sell the fruit to the local wholesaler, we do not get adequate price. Sometimes, they sell pineapple to the exporters of Dhaka and get Tk 25-30, but the exporters buy only a small amount of pineapple. Generally, a buyer has to purchase a 3.5 kg pineapple at Tk 60-70 from the city markets but the root level farmers are not getting the price. Several pineapple growers in Madhupur said they are not getting adequate prices due to lack of proper marketing and preservation facilities. Pineapple is cultivated mainly in Idilpur, Sholakuri, Dokhala, Beibaid, Kaliakoir, Hagurikuri, Pirgachha, Alokdia, Aushnara, Digor Baid, Arunkhola, Laofula, Raniaid, Moter Bazar, Jalchhatra, Garo Bazar and Rasulpur areas of the upazila.
