Rajshahi farmers achieve bumper pointed gourd yield

RAJSHAHI, July 27: The farmers in different upazilas including Paba, Durgapur, Baghmara, Mohanpur and Tanore have achieved bumper production of pointed gourd this season.
They are also happy over fair market price of the produce.
Truckloads of pointed gourd are supplied to different districts including the capital Dhaka from here every day. As the farmers are getting more profit this year than the previous year, they are showing more interest in pointed gourd cultivation, farmers said.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Rajshahi, the farmers here have cultivated pointed gourd on 880 hectares of land this year. The cultivation of pointed gourd is more risk-free than the cultivation of other crops and vegetables, sources said.
On an average, farmer can produce 14 metric tons of pointed gourd from per hectare of land. They are showing more interest in pointed gourd cultivation as they are getting all support including technological aid from the agriculture office, sources added.     
While talking to The Daily Observer, Firoz Hossen, a pointed gourd farmer of Andharkota village under Paba upazila said, "I cultivated pointed gourd for the first time on 30 per cent of my lands last year. Having bumper production with fair price, I cultivated pointed gourd on more lands this year."
Seeing his success, Zahurul Islam and Kurban Ali of the same village, jointly cultivated pointed gourd on 15 bighas of land this season and got bumper production, Firoz Hossen added.
Some marginal farmers said that the demand of pointed gourd is all year round. After planting, it takes three months to grow pointed gourd and can be sold in the market. Farmers can get pointed eight months at a stretch. The cost of pointed gourd farming per bigha is Tk 70,000 to 75,000.
Deputy Director of the DAE in Rajshahi Monjurul Haque said, "Pointed gourd is a very high productive vegetable and its demand remains all year round. Having bumper production with fair market price, the farmers here are showing more interest in its cultivation and it is increasing day by day."
He further said, "The famers of almost all upazilas have cultivated pointed gourd this year, but the farmers of Paba upazila have cultivated more of the vegetable this year. Now they are very happy having fair market price with bumper production."