Varieties of early winter vegetables have started appearing in both retail and wholesale markets in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Farmers in the region including the vast Barind tract, are successfully producing early varieties of winter vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, radish, carrot, beet, turnip, tomato, leafy spinach, red spinach, and receiving fair prices in the wholesale market.
Officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said, almost 1,50,000 hectares of land was brought under vegetable cultivation in the region this year. The production target has been set at around 21.5 tonnes from each hectare of land. Around 250,000 tonnes of vegetables are expected to be produced in Rajshahi region this season.
Over 100,000 people from 50 villages are involved in cultivating and selling different types of vegetables in the area.
Anwar Hossain, a farmer of Rajabari village under Godagari Upazila, said that he spends about Taka 750 for cultivating cauliflower on one decimal of land and gets 1.5 to 2 mounds of cauliflower. The wholesale market price of cauliflower is between Taka 2,000 to 2,200 per mound. He said the farmers are making a profit of Taka 450 to 550 per decimal of land by cultivating early winter vegetables.
Large quantities of vegetables are being transported to Dhaka, Chittagong and other major cities from the region. Abdus Sobhan, a local trader, said some 15 to 20 trucks are loaded with vegetables everyday and going to the capital and other cities.
(1 Bangladeshi Taka=0.013 USD)
Source: en.prothom-alo.com
