Four Gourds for One Taka: Panchagarh Farmers Feed Bumper Crop to Cattle as Prices Collapse

Atwari in Panchagarh has produced a bumper bottle gourd crop, yet that very harvest has become a burden for its farmers. Unable to get a fair price, they are in deep trouble: in places, four gourds are selling for one taka, and elsewhere each gourd fetches only two to five taka.

Visits to different areas of Atwari upazila showed the same picture. Unable to recover production costs, many farmers have stopped tending their gourd gardens. Some have been forced to cut down their gardens, while others are feeding the gourds to cattle.

The farmers' arithmetic is brutal. They say they must sell around 200 gourds just to buy one kilogram of coarse rice. And at Tk 750 per kilogram of beef, buying that beef requires selling roughly 3,000 gourds. The growers of Atwari are disheartened by such a price collapse for a crop raised with their sweat.

There is another side to the complaint. The same gourds bought cheaply from farmers are selling at retail for Tk 20 to 30 each. In other words, while farm-gate prices are extremely low, consumers still pay comparatively more — and in that gap, the producer sees no profit at all.

Dulal Islam, a farmer from Telipara in the upazila's Mirzapur union, grew gourds on 40 decimals of land. He spent around Tk 60,000 to 70,000 on the crop, yet earned only Tk 3,000 from selling gourds all season. He said this does not even cover labour wages and other costs.

Dulal Islam said that when no price can be had despite growing gourds with such effort, there is no option but to accept the loss. Selling two to three thousand gourds still makes it hard to buy a kilogram of beef. Disheartened, he cut down his garden, and said he is feeding the field's gourds to cattle.

He also questioned the gap between producer and consumer prices, claiming that while prices at the producer level remain low, buyers in the market pay Tk 20 to 30 per piece.

Ansarul Islam, a grower from Jhaljhali Ularchap in the same union, said he stopped tending his garden 10 days ago because gourds have no price. Fertiliser and pesticide costs are rising, daily labour wages run Tk 600 to 700, yet field gourds sell for at most five taka each.

Ansarul fears that if crops must be sold far below production cost, farmers cannot survive. If people grow crops with such hardship and still get no price, they will eventually be forced to give up farming, he warned.

Local trader Soleman Ali said both cultivation and yield of gourds in the area were good this year. But supply outstripped demand, pushing prices down, and with outside markets also failing to offer expected prices, farmers are counting losses.

Farmers allege that despite the good harvest, weak market management and the failure to ensure fair prices have pushed them into loss. They believe that unless prices are aligned with production costs and an effective system buys produce from farmers at fair prices, such losses will put agriculture at greater risk.

According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension, bottle gourds are grown on about 550 to 600 hectares of land in Panchagarh district every year — meaning the crop is tied to a significant part of the district's farm economy.

Attempts were made several times to reach Atwari upazila agriculture officer Mostak Ahmed for comment, but he did not answer the phone. The local agriculture office's view on the causes of the price fall and possible remedies could therefore not be obtained.

Despite the good harvest, Atwari's farmers are frustrated at not getting a fair price for their gourds. With market prices out of line with production costs, local farmers are demanding effective steps to cut their losses — otherwise many may turn away from this crop next season.