Cultivation of spice items on the rise in Sylhet division

SYLHET, Feb 06: Cultivation of different spice items has increased during the current Robi season in all the four districts of Sylhet division.

A good number of farmers are interested to grow different spice crops for more profit. A total of 7,165 hectares of land have been brought under the farming of the items, said Md Altabur Rahman, additional director of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Sylhet divisional office.

Many charlands have been used to cultivate those items to boost the production. The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and DAE have been providing all necessary support in this regard, the official added.

Sources said coriander is cultivated on 2,891 hectares of land, chilli on 3,297 hectares, onion on 646 hectares and garlic on 331 hectares of land.

Farmer Nizam Uddin of Kandigaon village under Sadar upazila said chilli and coriander farming have been increased in the area.

Mechanised irrigation system and modern technique help increase spice production, he said. "Through organising village level farmer groups, we also manage training programmes with the help of agriculture officials", the growers added.

The DAE additional director also said spice production will increase further in the north-east region in the coming year as a programme has been taken to bring uncultivated lands under farming of different crops.

The prime objective of the programme is to bring 70,000 hectares of lands under farming. Unlike other regions, Sylhet division had long been much behind in agriculture with highest number of absentee land owners and lack of interest of common farmers, the official noted.

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