Chattogram bean farmers eye Tk146cr this season

Around one lakh farmers in Chattogram are expecting to earn around Tk146.68 crore by selling lima beans, a popular winter vegetable, this season.

This year, farmers in three upazilas of the district and metropolis have cultivated 10 varieties of lima beans in 8,560 hectares of land. The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) expects a production of 1,04,960 tonnes of beans – 16 tonnes per hectare. The per hectare cultivation cost was Tk1,76,400.

Farmers expect to sell their produces at Tk25 per kg. Beans produced at Sitakunda are exported to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Shyamal Kanti Nandi, deputy director at Plant Quarantine Station, Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport, said 44 tonnes of beans worth Tk35 lakh were exported to the UAE through the airport in 2019 and 2020.

Md Mizanur Rahman, an official of SR Enterprise, an exporter of vegetables, said red beans from Sitakund and bean sprouts are exported to the UAE. At the beginning of the season, beans are sold at Tk60-150 per kg. The average price of exported beans throughout the season remains at around Tk80 per kg.

Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, deputy director of the Chattogram district office of the DAE, said Chattogram's bean yields are high due to geographical reasons. We are encouraging farmers to cultivate beans in an organic way. Like every year, we expect to get the desired yield of beans this time.

Mohammad Selim Mia, district market officer of the agriculture department, told The Business Standard a quarter of beans produced in Chattogram is sold in different upazilas, including Mirsarai, Sitakund and Chattogram city. The remaining amount goes to Dhaka and surrounding markets.

He added that at the beginning of bean production, it is sold at Tk120 per kg, but gradually it drops to Tk30-40.

According to the DAE, half of the total bean cultivation in Chattogram district comes from Sitakunda upazila as its weather condition is suitable for bean farming. In the current season, beans have been cultivated on 3,000 hectares of land in Sitakunda upazila alone. 

In Sitakunda upazila, farmers cultivate a total of five varieties of beans such as Chhuri, Bata, Putti, Rupban and Kartikoda every year. Apart from this, 10 varieties of beans, including Epsha, Bari-1, Bari-5, Bari-9 and Bari-10, are cultivated in other upazilas.

Ajay Barua, a bean farmer from Sitakund, said farmers have already started reaping beans grown in high places. Harvesting in low lands will start within a week.

Sitakunda Upazila Plant Protection Officer Subhash Chandra Nath said beans were cultivated in 2,800 hectares of land in the upazila in the 2018-2019 season and 3,000 hectares in 2019-20 season. Bean cultivation is more prevalent in Bariardhala, Nunachara, Battal, Sheikhpara, Guptakhali, Banshbaria, Muradpur, Syedpur and Barbakund areas. Reaping in full swing will start within one week.

At the farmer level, beans produced on one hectare of land are sold at Tk4 lakh. In other words, a farmer earns Tk2.34 lakh per hectare excluding production costs.