Early variety winter vegetables raise hope among Jessore farmers

Vegetable growers in the district are passing a very busy time cultivating early variety of winter vegetables eyeing a bumper production and good profit.

The farmers of the district, who supply the major portion of country's total vegetable outputs, started cultivating winter vegetables in the beginning of August due to its high demand in the market.

Talking to the UNB correspondent, local farmers said this year they cultivated vegetables comfortably due to sufficient rainfall.

They said they are expecting a record quantity of production if there is no major natural disaster in the country.

Visiting vegetable-producing villages like Hoibatpur, Kashimpur, Bijoynagar, Lebutala, Dogachchia, Bandabila, Isali, Nangarpur, Rajganjchaluhati in Manirampur Upazila, and Maswimnagar union of the district, this correspondent found that some farmers are busy preparing their lands for vegetable cultivation while some are engaged in sowing seeds and planting.

They have cultivated radish, bean, eggplant, cauliflower, cabbage, red spinach, green spinach, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, ladies finger, carrot and tomato in their lands with the hope of making a good profit.

Chandu Mia, a farmer at Chaluahati in Manirampur upazila, said he has cultivated cabbage on his two bighas of land but failed to harvest it as his produces were damaged by diamondback moth paste attack.

He also urged the local agriculture department for providing necessary assistance for dealing with the paste attack.

According to the district Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), 60 percent of the country's total vegetable production comes from the district.

The vegetables produced here are supplied to the capital and other parts of the country.

The DAE sources said they have set a target to bring some 25,000 hectares of land under winter vegetable cultivation in the district and already 70 percent land of the Upazila have been brought under winter vegetable cultivation.

Sushanto Kumar Tarafdar, DAE additional deputy director, said Jashore is famous as a vegetable zone of the country and the farmers here are cultivating various types of vegetables in their land round the year.

He said the farmers would harvest their early variety vegetables by the next 30 to 45 days.

Sushanto Kumar said, "We're providing technical assistance to the farmers for making the vegetable cultivation profitable and keeping those free from paste attacks."