RAJSHAHI, Sept 6, 2020 (BSS) – Farmers have produced around 8.90 lakh tonnes of vegetables in Rajshahi division during the current summer (Kharif-1) season contributing a lot towards meeting up the people’s demands of vegetables, officials said. Vegetable farming brings a smile on farmers’ faces here as they are becoming financially solvent by cultivating various types of vegetables, meeting its growing demand of the consumers despite Covid-19 pandemic situation. Currently, the entire kitchen markets in the region are bustling with all summer vegetables like red amaranth, bottle gourd, spinach, lady’s finger, pointed gourd, bitter gourd, pumpkin and brinjal benefiting both growers and consumers.
The vegetable production could have been more if it’s not affected by the recent flood that has damaged vegetables on around 3,638 hectares of land in all eight districts under Rajshahi division, according to a data revealed by the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE). Riaz Uddin, 43, a farmer of Khirshin Tiker area, said he earned Taka 20,000 by selling red amaranth from one bigha of land after sowing its seed hardly 20 days back at a cost of Taka 12,000.
“We are very much happy over the vegetable farming because we get good yield with fair market price within a short time,” he told BSS.
Ashraf Ali, 37, another farmer of Mollapara area, said not only red amaranth but also many other short duration vegetables are being produced here.
Farmers in the vast Barind tract are growing brinjal by covering the soil with polythene sheets with a view to saving the plants from being damaged by rain water. Brinjal is generally a winter vegetable but the growers here are farming the item in summer in number.
Gardening around homesteads in the summer season has been gaining popularity with production of different fruits and vegetables. Marginal farmers and the poor people are mostly engaged in this venture by making the best use of spaces around their homes. “Farmers get benefit by farming vegetables in the region. It brings a smile on marginal farmers and poor people’s faces,” said Dr Shakhawat Hossain, Senior Scientific Officer of On Farm Research Division, an organ of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute. He mentioned that vegetable farming and its production has been playing a vital role towards accelerating the region’s economic condition besides meeting up the food demand. Meanwhile, the DAE had set a target of producing around 8.85 lakh tonnes of summer vegetables from 49,870 hectares of land in all eight districts under Rajshahi division during the current Kharif-1 season.
Sudhendra Nath Roy, Additional Director of DAE, said Rajshahi division has been thought to be the country’s most prospective vegetable producing region.
At present, even many of the winter vegetables are being cultivated in the summer season. The farmers are seen showing their interests towards vegetable farming as they have been gaining more profit over the last couple of years.
He said farmers are cultivating vegetables on bare lands and homesteads along with farm land, increasing its production which is changing the economic condition of local farmers.
Farmers are passing busy days with vegetable farming of the current Kharif-1 season and they are happy with their good yields with less irrigation water following a couple of rains experienced.
Varieties of vegetables are available in the local markets round the years because of regular farming of the crops along with other seasonal fruits and crops.
According to the agriculturists, the growers are now busy with vegetable farming side by side with paddy and the region is experienced more or less rainfall since the beginning of the season.
As a result, the irrigation-dependent lady’s finger, corolla, potol, brinjal, chilly, cucumber and bottle gourd were cultivated without any irrigation.
On the other hand, the farmers had produced more than 19 lakh tonnes of vegetables from 87,612 hectares in the past winter season benefiting the consumers in many ways like meeting up their protein demands in Rajshahi division.
Another 36.22 lakh tonnes of potatoes were also harvested from 1.58 lakh hectares of land making the farmers happy due to its good yield and desired market price amid the COVID-19 pandemic.