A farmer tending his vegetable plants in a floating garden in Nangalkot upazila of Cumilla — FE Photo Cumilla, October 06: Vegetable cultivation on floating beds is increasingly gaining popularity in Cumilla.
Vegetables are cultivated in this manner in the district especially during monsoon as the farmlands remain mostly submerged then.
Due to production of vegetables following this method, farmers get good prices on the one hand and customers also get safe vegetables for consumption.
The new process of vegetable cultivation was first introduced in some villages of Nangalkot upazila of Cumilla.
After witnessing vegetable cultivation in the new method, farmers are showing inclination towards it increasingly.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Cumilla, a woman named Mansura Akter first cultivated vegetables on floating beds in Tuguria village of Nangalkot.
Mansura Akhter said she had started cultivating vegetables on a floating bed in a pond adjacent to her house.
Various vegetables, including eggplant, bottle gourd and tomato, are cultivated following the method. Bottle gourds weighing even up to 10 kg are grown in the floating gardens.
After consumption, she sells vegetables in the local market, which fetch her substantial income.
She was greatly benefited from the advice and training from the DAE.
Aman Ullah, a farmer from the same village, said he does not have high land for vegetable cultivation.
He also cultivates vegetables on floating beds in a canal close to the Cumilla-Noakhali highway.
Aman Ullah said he produces vegetables in this way which is safe for consumption. There is a huge demand for the vegetables in the market, which are produced following this organic method.
In his floating gardens, various vegetables, including sweet pumpkin and bottle gourd, have been cultivated. Getting inspired by this, many others have cultivated vegetables following the same process.
Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer Abul Bashar said the croplands in the area are somewhat low. During this period, farmlands remain under water. So the farmers are encouraged to cultivate vegetables in floating gardens.
Some farmers have been taken to Faridganj in Chandpur to provide training on vegetable cultivation.
"Many farmers have been benefited by cultivating vegetables in the floating manner. If others also come forward to cultivate vegetables in this way, they will surely get better prices and supply of vegetables in the market will also increase," he added
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