BSS, Rajshahi
Around 20,000 tonnes of summer green chili is expected to be produced from 8,675 hectares of land in all eight districts under the division during the current Kharip-1 cropping season, reports BSS.
Target has been set to produce around 7,478 tonnes of chili from 3,415 hectares of land in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon and Natore districts under Rajshahi Agricultural Zone.
Another 11,520 tonnes are expected to be yielded from 5,260 hectares of land in Bogura, Joypurhat, Pabna and Sirajgonj districts under Bogura Agricultural Zone this season.
Sirajul Islam, Additional Director of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said the region has been producing chili along with other vegetables round the year enormously for long times.
Presently, the local kitchen markets and other growth centres have been overwhelmed with the newly harvested chilli and other summer vegetables.
Agriculturist Islam said farmers are also happy after getting both good yield and market price of the summer chili everywhere in the region including its vast Barind tract during last couple of days.
Locals said the price of green chilli nearly doubled in the city’s kitchen markets over the past couple of days. The price of green chilli rose by Tk 70-80 a kilogram and the item was selling at Tk 190 to 200 a kg in retail markets on Sunday and Monday.
Traders said that the price of green chilli witnessed a sharp rise due to various reasons including monsoon damage to farmlands, leading to a supply shortage of the item in the city markets. Monwar Hossain, 45, a farmer of Soipara village under Mohanpur Upazila, said he had cultivated green chilli on 20-katha land this season.
He has sold a total of 115 kilograms of chilli at the rate of Tk 185 per kg on an average. He is happy after getting a fair price.
Abdus Samad, another farmer of Nuriakhetra village in Mohanpur Upazila said he had cultivated green chilli on one bigha of land last year and got good yield and price.
This time, he cultivated the spicy cash crop on two bighas of land and sold chilli with good profit over the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, Kharkhori Green Chilli Market under Paba Upazila in Rajshahi district has been bustling with a bountiful amount of summer chilli and farmers and traders for the last couple of weeks.
The trading-spree is growing up gradually with increasing the number of buyers and sellers. After buying from the haat, the chilli is sent to different parts of the country. Growers from the surrounding upazilas bring their chilli to the market and sell at wholesale rates. Rawshan Ali, President of the market committee, said about 30 metric tons of green chilli are sold in this market daily.
The wholesalers send eight to ten truck loaded with chilli to different parts of the country including Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet every day.
A wholesaler of the haat said he buys 3,000 kg of chilli every day, and send those to Chattogram.
Meanwhile, the DAE has set a target of producing around 9.15 lakh tonnes of summer vegetables from 49,895 hectares of land in the division during the current Kharif-1 season.
The entire kitchen markets in the region are currently bustling with all summer vegetables like red amaranth, bottle gourd, spinach, lady’s finger, pointed gourd, bitter gourd, pumpkin and brinjal benefiting both growers and consumers.
Vegetable farming brings a smile on farmers’ faces here as they are becoming financially solvent by cultivating various types of vegetables, meeting its growing demand of the consumers despite Covid-19 pandemic situation.