High-valued fruit-vegetable farming rises at Birampur

BIRAMPUR, DINAJPUR, Feb 3: Conventional paddy farmers in Birampur Upazila of the district are continuing to shift to commercial cultivation of high-valued fruits and vegetables.
From high-quality vegetable and fruit farming, they are making higher profits than that of paddy and other crop farming.
According to sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), mango, litchi, guava, banana, plum, malta and dragon have been cultivated widely. For the last several years, this high-value farming has made an encouraging co-cropping growth in the upazila. Seeing successes, others are shifting to this type of cropping. In making agriculture experiment a promising success, local agriculture authorities are assisting the farmers.
According to the DAE sources, 110 hectares (ha) of land have been brought under commercial mango farming in Birampur Upazila, 100 ha litchi, 41 ha guava, 90 ha banana, 20 ha plum, 7 ha malta, 4 ha dragon, and 1,280 ha vegetable have been brought under cultivation.
In Horikristapur Village, farmer Aminur Rahman said, along with paddy he has farmed hibrid vegetables on about ten bighas; he gets higher profit from vegetables than paddy; and his yearly solid earnings from vegetable farming stands at about Tk 3 lakh.
Farmer Shakhawat Hossain Minu of Mangalpur Village said, he is getting more profit from his malta, litchi and dragon orchards than that from other crops.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Nixon Chandra Pal confirmed farmers' shifting to modern cropping of high-value fruits and vegetables.  
According to overall advice and prescription of the DAE, high-value fruit-vegetable farming is continuing to go up in the upazila, he maintained.