RAJSHAHI, Dec 02 (BSS): Around 1.35 million (13.53 lakh) tonnes of spicy crops are expected to be yielded from 0.15 million (1.52 lakh) hectares of land in all eight districts under Rajshahi division during the current Rabi season.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has set the target of producing 0.58 million (5.85 lakh) tonnes of crops from 64,615 hectares of land in four districts under Rajshahi Agricultural Zone, while 0.76 million (7.68 lakh) tonnes from 86,172 hectares of land in four other districts in Bogura Agricultural Zone.
The DAE has also set the target of producing 0.93 million (9.33 lakh) tonnes of onion from 88,800 hectares of land, 0.38 million (3.89 lakh) tonnes of garlic from 46,117 hectares, 26,701 tonnes of chilli from 13,150 hectares, 3,563 tonnes of coriander from 2,548 hectares and 1,172 tonnes of black cumin from 1,172 hectares of land.
Various agricultural extension and research organisations have taken all possible measures to attain the target as demand of the spicy crops are gradually mounting with the rising population.
Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) has, so far, disbursed Taka 21.1 million (211 crore) loans among 25,047 farmers for spicy crop farming at four percent interest in the country's northwest region, said Muhammad Idrish, Deputy Managing Director of RAKUB.
Presently, the local kitchen markets and other growth centres have become plentiful with the newly harvested chilli 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 27,000 farmers were given seeds and fertilizers free of cost for chili farming, while 14,000 farmers for onion farming in the division under the current Rabi season's agricultural incentive programme, said Sirajul Islam, Additional Director of DAE.
Farmers have cultivated the advanced variety of onion on around 6,560 hectares of land in the Barind area alone this season and most of them are very much hopeful about getting a lucrative price of the upcoming harvest of the cash crop.
Meanwhile, farming of onion may break all the previous records in the region including its vast Barind tract as farmers are seen humming towards the spicy crop in the wake of its unusual price hike.
Everywhere in the region, farmers are now seen very much busy in nursing the growing onion plants and preparing their lands of transplanting onion seedlings creating scopes of seasonal employment for many people.
Sazammul Haque, a farmer of Darusha village under Paba Upazila, said he had sold onion seedlings at Taka 1,400 to 1,500 per mound in the previous years due to manifold interests of the farmers.
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