Joypurhat peasants joyous with bumper banana production
Roving Correspondent | Tuesday, 22 January 2019
JOYPURHAT, Jan 21: Banana farmers of all five upazilas are seen delighted over bumper production and fair market price this season in Joypurhat district.
The farmers were mostly dependent on paddy and other Rabi crops as well as Kharif cereal production before a decade. Now, they have turned the desire from the general crops to banana farming with the assistance of the authority concerned.
Experimental banana farming has brought smile to the marginal farmers in Akkelpur, Kalai, Khetlal, Panchbibi and Sadar upazilas of the region. The farming is expanding gradually across the roots level. The farmers got a revolutionary financial support from the farming.
The farming is also getting popular across the district as its cultivation is proved more lucrative compared to other long time crops. The farmers of the region have shown more interest to grow the fruit in a large scale.
Each plant bears around 20 to 25 KGs of fresh fruit and some 800 plants can be grown on a bigha of land if the sapling is well nurtured, said sub-assistant agriculture officers.
"I cultivated banana on two bighas of land last year in an experimental basis spending Tk 30,000 aiming a good profit," said farmer Kamrul Islam of Akkelpur upazila. "I have already sold the crops worth Tk 70,000 and expecting to make over Tk 40,000 from the rest of fruits." he added.
A large number of people, mostly unemployed youths, have drawn the attention on banana farming across the vast Barind tract as the cultivation procedure is easier and cheaper.
The variety of banana can be harvested within 08 to 10 months after plantation of the sapling if the weather condition prevails gentle. The farmer can earn around Tk 0.1 to 0.2 million from a hectare of land investing only Tk 30,000.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) official said the region has immense prospect to grow the lucrative banana fruits. We have provided all sorts of necessary agri-inputs among the farmers this season, he added.