Wednesday | 15 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
বাংলা
   
Wednesday | 15 January 2025 | Epaper

Garlic farming gains popularity at Chalanbeel

Published : Sunday, 27 November, 2022 at 12:00 AM  Count : 242
Naresh Madhu
Labourers planting garlic seeds into a field at Chalanbeel. photo: observer

Labourers planting garlic seeds into a field at Chalanbeel. photo: observer

PABNA, Nov 26: Growers expect to get good production of garlic in Chalalnbeel region of the district.
According to field sources, this year's garlic plantation has already begun in the upazila.
 Growers in Pabna, Natore and Sirajganj districts under the Chalanbeel region have cultivated  garlic at a large scale.
This year's garlic from Chalanbeel will meet about half of the country's demand; also the country's garlic import dependency will decrease, the sources said.
Farmers in Chatmohar Upazila are used to cultivate IRRI-Boro, wheat, mustard, kalai (grass pea), lentils, and vegetables in the traditional system.
During different natural calamities, such as downpour, flood, drought, storm, hailstorm, risk of pest attack, and increase in prices of agriculture materials including fertiliser increased the cost of cultivation; but a decade back, local farmers started shifting to garlic farming.
Nimaichra, Chaikola, Bilchalon, and Haripur Unions under Chatmohar Upazila are growing garlic. Farmers said that earlier farmers were dependent only on IRRI-Boro farming at low-land. Now garlic is also cultivated in these fields.
According to sources at Department of Agriculture Extension, since 2007, the cultivation of garlic has been going on in Chatmohar Upazila.
Upazila Agriculture Officer A A Masum Billah said, after harvesting Aman paddy, weeds should be cleaned quickly from lands while the soil is still raw, and after sprinkling some fertiliser and planting garlic seeds in a row, the whole land should be covered with straws; crops grow inside within 90 to 100 days; in the current season, the target of garlic cultivation has been set at about 6500 hectares (ha) at Chatmohar.
Garlic growers including Kader Sarkar, Mujibar Shah, Shimul Hossain, and others said, garlic seeds are currently being sown in beels; growers are passing busy time; men and women are sowing garlic seeds in row since the morning.
Time is very short, they added. If the soft soil hardens in the sun, seed-sowing will end. That is why farmers are carrying out their sowing activities along with labourers and family    members.  
Garlic is now the second major financial spice crop of Chalanbeel.
Cleaning of straws from just lifted garlic fields is going on. Garlic farming is easy, requiring no tilling.
Garlic cloves are buried in mud. Fields are covered with paddy straws, or dried leaves of water hyacinth. As Aman paddy harvesting and garlic sowing are going on at a time, labourer shortage appeared in the region.
Per woman is getting Tk 350 while a male Tk 500.
Bakul Hossain of Ramnagar Village in the northern part of Chalanbeel, said, he has spent about Tk 36,000 to cultivate garlic on one bigha land. He expects to get 30 tonnes of garlic or Tk 35,000 to 36,000.
Enamul Haque, another grower of the same village, said, it costs about Tk 30,000 to 35,000 to grow garlic on one bigha, including costs of seed, irrigation, fertiliser, pesticide, planting, and lifting. At present, garlic is selling at Tk 800 to 1,800 per maund, on size basis. It is causing farmers to incur losses.
If the market price of garlic goes down or the current situation continues, those who have planted garlic taking other people's land lease will incur much losses. Farmers will be able to make a profit if the price goes up. So, he demanded a fair price of garlic.
This Rabi season, garlic seeds have been planted into about 45,000 hectare (ha) lands in the Chalanbeel region. Of this, 6,205ha have been cultivated in Chatmohar Upazila.
In the last Rabi (2019-2020) season, the total production of garlic in the upazila was 51,118 metric tons (mt), with the average yield of 8.38mt per ha.  
This season, there is a possibility of about 3.75 mt garlic from 45,000ha in the region, said Chatmohar Upazila Agriculture Officer A, A. Masum Billah.
If garlic growers are granted easy term loans and improved seeds provided, the garlic cultivation will increase, growers said, demanding more demonstration plots for the garlic cultivation.







LATEST NEWS
MOST READ
Also read
Abdul Aziz gets success in farming China orange
Road mishaps claim four lives in four districts
Poor people get blankets in Noakhali
Coconut price soars in Laxmipur
127 detained on different charges in seven districts
‘Girls Get Equal’ helps decrease early marriage in Barguna
Two females 'commit suicide' in Noakhali, Mymensingh
Seven people found dead in five districts
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: district@dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
🔝
close