A demonstration plot of Agar farming in Barlekha of Moulvibazar district — FE Photo SYLHET, Sept 30: Farming of component and high value crops can help raise the yield of valuable product 'Agar', which is largely cultivated in the greater Sylhet region for long.
Cultivation of pineapple, coriander, ginger and turmeric as well as tea is very much possible on the same land alongside Agar plantation by adopting modern farm afforestation process, said a number of researchers at the Sylhet Agricultural University (SAU).
Traditionally people earn good from Agar in this region for long through its export, especially to the Gulf.
The opinion came on the basis of research on 'evaluation of the existing farm aforestation system in Sylhet region for food security in climate smart agriculture framework', which has been going on at Inainagar of Barlekha upazila under Moulvibazar district.
It is being done with the assistance from National Agriculture Technology Project-2 of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC), said the chief researcher and Agro Forestry and Environmental Science Department chairman Md. Samiul Ahsan Talukder at the SAU.
Professor Dr Md. Sharaf Uddin of the same department is also a researcher in the team.
Talking to this correspondent on Sunday he said the farmers in this region are traditionally engaged in Agar farming for ages.
For a possible good return they have to wait for 12 years even, he added.
He further said but they could be benefited from other crops ahead of Agar earlier from the same land.
On the other hand many farmers have to get disappointed due to the new challenges in Agar faring, Mr Ahsan said further, on the basis of research findings we suggest the farmers to come up with multiple crops' cultivation as crop component, alongside the traditional Agar farming.
"We have also set a research plot of Agar and component crops' on the campus", Mr Samiul added.
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