Report: Abhishek Ranjan
Muzaffarpur. Kesaur is such a fruit that is produced in abundance in Bihar, which is sold on Basant Panchami especially as Prasad of Saraswati Puja. This is the reason why farmers cultivate this fruit to sell it on Basant Panchami. Actually, the sweet potato that grows inside the soil is called Kesaur here. The story of this fruit in Bihar is strange as well as interesting. Compared to the last two years, this year its price has decreased by 10 times, so the hope of profit that the farmers had kept, has turned water on it. It is also interesting why it is called the fruit of a day!
Ashish Kumar, the owner of ‘Pethia’, an online vegetable and fruit selling site in Muzaffarpur, says that the maximum sale of saffron fruit takes place only in Basant Panchami. Its demand is less in normal days. Ashish says that 80% of the saffron produced by the farmers in this season is sold only for Basant Panchami. The sale of the remaining Kesaur continues till Mahashivaratri.
Generally it is difficult to sell even 3-4 kilos.
Ashish has sold 5 quintals of Kesaur on this Basant Panchami. There are dozens of such shopkeepers in Muzaffarpur, who were selling saffron in maximum quantity for the last two days. Ashish says that it is difficult to sell even 3-4 kg of saffron on normal days, but on the occasion of Basant Panchami, the sale of 5 quintals is a big record. Farmers cultivate saffron only for this day. The hope of fruit and vegetable vendors also rests on this day’s sale because this is the only day of profit for them.
Kesaur was sold for 400 rupees a kg, now 40!
Fruit seller Dhaneshwar Sah of Amgola Road said that due to the effect of Corona for the last two-three years, there was a ban on public worship. For this reason the farmers had reduced its cultivation. that’s why Last year, the price of saffron was up to Rs 400 per kg. In view of the increased price, this time the farmers cultivated it a lot, but due to high yield, they did not get the same rate as before. Dhaneshwar said that this year the price of saffron is only Rs 30 to 40 per kg.
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Tags: Food business, Muzaffarpur News
FIRST PUBLISHED : January 27, 2023, 10:12 IST