Sunflowers can sow seeds of happiness

Mohiuddin Babar | Published: June 18, 2018 22:48:04

Reports are surfacing about growing interest in sunflower farming in the country. The intensity of the interest is, however, more in the coastal region where many farmers have been in scrappy thoughts about their life and living following weather induced vulnerabilities and loss of conventional agriculture to increasing salinity.
Surely, the news of sunflower cultivation possibilities brings them an emerging wave of enthusiasm.
Sunflower is not only a beautiful floral species but a well recognised source of food as well. It serves as popular cooking oil in many parts of the world and recommended by nutritionists for its health enrichment values.
Now that sunflowers have been found to have the inherent quality of adaptability to salinity, it brings forth the opportunities of its cultivation in the coastal regions of the country which is already threatened by saline water intrusion due to sea level rise.
It is known well that Bangladesh, particularly its coastal belt, is highly vulnerable to the impacts of global climate change. The Climate Vulnerability Index has forecast that 97 per cent of the coastal belt and about 35 million people living there are on the threshold of severe climate change onslaughts which range from abnormal weather conditions to loss of good water to extinction of several ecological species.
The situation is bound to drive away millions of people from their ancestral homestead and profession and force them to migrate to other places. In fact, the syndrome has already begun, particularly after the big cyclonic storms like Aila and Sidr several years ago.
Agro experts have opined that sunflower cultivation does not require heavy irrigation and is not much dependent on fertilizer use too. So, the cost of production should be much lesser than many other crops.
Perhaps this is the reason why the farmers are getting deep interest in sunflower cultivation, more so in the coastal areas of the country.
Sunflower is mainly grown in temperate region and fortunately our climate is greatly conducive to its cultivation. Some efforts were made earlier for its farming but those then were not successful as people were yet to be conscious about its health and economic benefits, as they are now.
Moreover, yield per acre of this crop is much higher while the production cost is minimal. Besides being dependable edible oil, this vegetable oil has many medicinal impacts as well.
In our country, the market of edible oil is clearly dominated by imports, mainly soybean oil. About two million tons of soybean oil is imported annually.
Experts opine that growing and popularising sunflower oil in the country can immensely reduce the import bill while at the same time open a new horizon of opportunities for the local farmers and ensure better health for the people.
In neighbouring India, growing income and health concerns have stipulated a five-fold increase in cultivation and consumption of sunflower oil during the last decade.
With all these positive points in its favour, sunflower cultivation should be given a priority. What is needed is a clear agro-strategy along with field level support to the farmers like training, seed extraction facilities, storage and marketing.
This is all the more important to reassure our farmers in salinity induced coastal region. Certainly, sunflowers can sow seeds of happiness for all!
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