BINA- 8 peanut variety becomes a hit initially

OUR CORRESPONDENT
MAGURA, July 24: Farmers in remote char village of Goaldah, 40 kilometres away from Magura town, have attained an unmatched success in cultivation of BINA- 8 China peanut, in the very first year of switching to the variety.
China peanut is the only crop grown in the char village on the bank of the Gorai River.
The villagers survive mostly making a living from the Gorai char land. They have been cultivating China peanut on char land for many years.
This year the farmers cultivated BINA-8 peanut in the char village for the first time and achieved an outstanding success.
Its high yield and lucrative price have raised new hopes and aspirations among the farmers of Goaldah.
Mrinal Kanti, a farmer of the char village, said, "I have been cultivating China peanut in the char area for about 20 years. Earlier I got about six maunds of peanut per bigha of land by cultivating the common variety. But this year I cultivated BINA 8 peanut in my field for the first time. The yield I have achieved was out of my imagination which is about 10 maunds per bigha . I am overwhelmed with this success."
Another farmer Shukumar Pal of Goaldah said, "This year I brought my two bighas of land under BINA - 8 peanut for the first time .Not only the quantity of yield is amusing to me, but also the price which I got for the variety is lucrative."
"The farmers who cultivated the common variety of peanut has got only Tk3,200 per maund while I have got Tk4,200 pre maund for BINA- 8. The village has 300 bighas of char land and we demand that the total land area be brought under BINA- 8 cultivation in the upcoming season," he added.
Farmer Shubal Ghosh said, "We are cultivating China peanut for years. But the cultivation failed to give us solvency. Now we feel that BINA- 8 peanut can change the fate of Goaldah char farmers. The variety can be cultivated twice a year."
Another farmer Shukanta Biswas said, "BINA-8 peanut is high yielding and its price is lucrative. Moreover, the variety is less vulnerable to insecticides. On the other the village is affluent with livestock. So preparing manure for BINA-8 cultivation is easy and smooth to us. We seek support from the authorities to cultivate BINA- 8 peanut in our 300 bigha land."
When contacted , BINA, Magura sub-centre officer-in-charge Shushan Chowhan said, "We have got an astonishing response from Goaldah char farmers about cultivating BINA - 8 peanut .Production of BINA-8 peanut is 2.5 tonnes per hectare as against 1.75 tonnes in case of the common variety."
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