Barabkunda farmers losing interest in red guava cultivation, despite high demand

Farmers in Sitakunda's Barabkunda hills in Chattogram are losing interest in cultivating the red variety of guava, locally called "Lal Gayam", despite its high demand among traders and consumers.

The indigenous species of guava, mostly famous for its unique taste and nutritional values, earns the farmers and traders around Tk15-20 crore a season spanning four months, according to traders.

However, due to the relatively smaller size of the fruit and reasonably low prices, farmers are opting for other fruits to make more profit.

Mohammad Sohel, a garden owner in Barabkunda, told The Business Standard, "As the yield of the red guava is relatively lower than the white variety, farmers are planting white guava more."

According to wholesalers, an average of Tk15-20 lakh worth of guavas is sold to fruit traders from various parts of Chattogram and Feni at Barabkunda Bazar every day.

The local agriculture office, however, currently does not have sufficient data about the potential market for the fruit.

In addition to red guava, farmers have been cultivating several other fruits such as white guava and mango in more than 300 gardens in the hills of Barabkunda for years. The gardens are visible from both sides of the winding hilly road that goes east of Barbakunda Bazar from the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.

Mohammad Ali, 50, a garden owner, told TBS that his father developed the garden, covering 5-6 acres, at least 40 years ago. He has been growing different types of fruits there for the last 30 years.

"The red guava is a unique fruit of Barabkunda with a distinctive taste. It is a bit smaller in size but widely popular all over Chattogram", he said, adding that he usually has a 200-300 kg yield of the fruit every day.

"After meeting all the expenditure, I earn Tk2-3 lakh by selling guavas every year", Ali said.

Guavas are harvested from the gardens in four months beginning from June to September.

A pair of baskets filled with guavas is sold at Tk900-2,000, depending on their sizes, to the traders from Chattogram and Feni at the Barabkunda Bazar.

Abdur Rahman, a trader from the port city's Boropole, who was purchasing guavas from Barabkunda Bazar on Wednesday, told TBS that there was a high demand for the delicious fruit in his area.

A kg of guava cost him Tk45-50, which he could sell at Tk70-80 in retail, he said.

Mamun, a trader from Feni, who has been trading fruits for the last 20 years, said that he purchases around 800-1200 kg of guavas from Barabkunda every day to sell those in his district.

He estimates that guavas worth Tk15-20 lakh are sold in Barabkunda every day.

Mohammad Habibullah, the agriculture officer of Sitakunda Upazila, said, "The red variety of guava contains more vitamin A than any other species of fruit in the country. It has huge potential, and we are trying to promote the cultivation of red guava".

"The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) has already collected saplings of the indigenous guava and started working on the development of red varieties through research," he added.

Habibullah mentioned that there is huge potential for exporting the distinctive species of guava.