Farmers and land under cotton cultivation in four upazilas of Chuadanga district and two upazilas of Meherpur district under Cotton Development Board, Chuadanga Zone have increased this year compared to the last year due to making profit by selling their products. Cotton production of the zone is better than other zones of Bangladesh, officials said.
According to Chuadanga Cotton Zonal Office, about 4,332 hectares of land have been taken under cotton cultivation with 10,000 metric tons of cotton producti0n this year but 4,000 hectares of land were cultivated cotton with 9,772 metric tons of the variety. Value of production cotton is Tk 850 million.
The upazila wise breaks up are- 755 hectares of land with 1742 metric tons cotton production in Chuadanga sadar upazila, 257 hectares of land with 593 metric tons of cotton production in Alamdanga upazila, 671 hectares of land with 1549 metric tons of cotton production in Damurhuda upazila and 810 hectares of land with 1870 metric tons of cotton production in Jibannagar upazila of Chuadanga district, 1308 hectares of land with 3020 metric tons of cotton production in Meherpur sadar upazila and 531 hectares of land with 1226 metric tons of cotton production in Mujibnagar upazila of Meherpur district.
Some farmers of the district said that they have followed the seedling transplantation method instead of sowing seeds, that is why it has also helped increasing the production.
Shahazul Hoque, a farmer of village Monoharpur in Jibannagar upazila of the district said tk. 30,000 is expensed to cultivate cotton on 3 bighas of land. About 24 mounds of cotton are produced from the land. He has expected he will get tk. 64,400 after sale of the produced cotton.
He also stated that Gining Association under the direction of Cotton Development Department has been purchasing cotton. The association are considering grade A and grade B of cotton. The rate of grade-A is tk. 3400 and grade-B at tk. 1200 per mound.
Abdul Khaleque, cotton cultivator of the same village said that he cultivated cotton on two bighas of land and are expecting production between 7 and 8 mounds of cotton per bigha.
He also stated that he has been cultivating cotton since 2010. Staffs of Cotton Department visit the crop land, observe the condition of cotton plant and advise us how to take care of the plant, if necessary.
According to Abdul Goni, a farmer of village Belgasi in sadar upazila of the district, he has taken under cotton cultivation on 1.5 bighas of land and expressed satisfaction for cultivation it. Deep black clay soil or sandy soil or sandy loam soil are needed for cultivation of cotton, these soils are available in the district, another cause for huge production of cotton, Abdus Salam of village Ershadpur in Alamdanga upazila of the district said. Farmers have been cultivating pulses, onion and garlic with cotton as Agroforestry. So farmers are getting extra amount to sell these crops from the field, sources added.
It is learnt, farmers grow saplings of cotton plant using seeds in beds in the month of June and July. Then they, uproot it, plant sapling in the field and harvest in the month of December and January.
Md Amzad Hossain, Unit Officer of Cotton Development Board said, cotton growers have been cultivating hybrid cotton varieties, these are Rupali-1, White Gold-1 and White Gold-2, DM-4 and local varieties is Ufasi-OP, developed by Cotton Development Board.
Sheikh Al Mamun, Chief Cotton Development Officer of Chuadanga Zonal Office, Bangladesh Cotton Development Board told the Bangladesh Post, specialists and staffs of the department have been visiting, observing and monitoring cotton fields for taking care of by the farmers and achieving huge production. As a result cotton production in Chuadanga Zone is more than other Zones of Bangladesh.