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1.8m tonnes of spice yield expected in Rajshahi div


By BSS
Published : 16 Jan 2023 08:51 PM

Around 18.02 lakh tonnes of spice crops are expected to be yielded from 1.51 lakh hectares of land in all eight districts under the division during the current winter season. 

Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has set the target of producing 13.37 lakh tonnes of onion from 87,051 hectares of land, 4.31 lakh tonnes of garlic from 47,054 hectares, 30,782 tonnes of chili from 12,771 hectares, 1,232 tonnes of black cumin from 1,1221 hectares and 2,966 tonnes of coriander from 2,416 hectares of land. 

Various agricultural extension and research organizations have taken all possible measures to attain the target as the demand for the spice crops is gradually mounting with the rising population. 

Presently, the local kitchen markets have become plentiful with the newly harvested tuber onion, green chili and other winter vegetables.

Farmers are also happy after getting both good yield and market price of the summer chili everywhere in the region. 

Around 3,840 farmers were given seeds and fertilizers worth around Taka 10 lakh as incentives for winter onion farming in the division under the current winter season's agricultural incentive programme, said Shamsul Wadud, Additional Director of DAE.

Around 24,000 hectares of land were brought under the tuber onion cultivation in the division this year.

Meanwhile, farming of onion may break all the previous records in the region including its vast Barind tract as farmers are seen showing interest in cultivating the spice crops.

Sazammul Haque, a farmer of Darusha village under Paba Upazila, said he had sold onion seedlings at Taka 1,300 to 1,500 per mound in the previous years. 

Kamrul Islam, another farmer of Duary village, said he has cultivated onion seed on five bighas of land at a cost of around Taka three lakh and hoping of making profit due to rising prices.

Anwar Hossain of Bidirpur village under Godagari upazila said he's cultivating onions for the first time this year. He bought seedlings at a cost of Taka 2,200 per mound.

More than 1,500 volunteers are motivating farmers to cultivate less water consuming crops through water resource management on behalf of the 'Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)' Project.

DASCOH Foundation has been implementing the IWRM project in 1,280 drought-hit villages of 39 Union Parishad and three municipalities in eight upazilas of Rajshahi, Nao­gaon and Chapai­nawabganj districts supported by Switzerland since 2015.

IWRM Project Coordinator Jahangir Alam Khan said promotion of less-water consuming crops in the Barind area is a good sign for lessening the gradually mounting pressure on its underground water.

In nature, farmers of the region are habituated to farming various vegetables including the spice crops.

Mozdar Hossain, Deputy Director of DAE, said there is a prospect of massive onion farming this time adding that farming can be spread to more land this year than last year.