Pabna growers profit more from early winter vegetables

PABNA, Sept 28: Farmers in all nine upazilas of the district are cultivating early varieties of winter vegetables on their farmland as the crops comparatively give them more profit.

Officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said more than 21,840 hectares of land in the district have been brought under cultivation of early winter vegetables like beans, cauliflower, cabbage, radish, and carrot, turnip, tomato, leafy spinach and red spinach this year.

While visiting the Awtapara and Kalikapur areas of Ishwardi Upazila, farmers Mubarak Shaikh and Mohammad Ali told this correspondent that they successfully produced early winter vegetables on their lands last year and made a good profit.

DAE officials said vegetables are grown in the majority of villages of the district as it has fertile lands where yields are much higher. Traders from across the country purchase vegetables from here and transport them to Dhaka, Chattogram, and other major cities, they added.

Farmer Haider Ali of Sara Village under the Ishwardi Upazila said they prefer cultivating winter vegetables to other crops to avoid the risk of loss. The correspondent found the farmers busy taking care of their vegetable fields.

Dr Saiful Azam, Deputy Director of the DAE, said winter vegetables are largely grown in almost all the villages in the district and farmers make a good profit by selling their produce.

The field-level DAE officials visit the villages regularly to talk to the growers and give them advice about the use of fertiliser and pesticides in their vegetable fields. At present, the local price of beans is being sold for Tk 80 to Tk 90 per kg at local markets. 

The farmers are happy to get the price of beans, said Abdul Hannan of Kalikapur Village of the upazila.