Shalgom, olcopy creeping into kitchens

Yasir Wardad | Published: December 23, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

shalgom

With production rising, turnip (shalgam) and kohlrabi (olcopy), two winter crops, are being popularised as mainstream vegetable items in kitchens, officials said.
Official data showed that production of the winter crops has increased nearly by 250 per cent in a decade.
While shalgam and olcopy, also known as German Turnip, are popular in West Asia, Europe and some parts of South Asia, it had lower demand among Bangladeshis until recently.
Same 'genus' of crops like radish, carrot, cabbage, cauliflour are popular in the country, but now shalgam and olcopy are occupying space in consumers' kitchens.
Rebeka Sultana, a housewife at Lalito Mohan Das Lane in the older part of the city, bought two kilograms of shalgam on Saturday from Nowabganjbazar.
Talking to the FE, Ms Sultana, 52, said that she didn't like shalgam a few years ago.
"Credit goes to one of my cousins who cooked a delicious dish of shalgam on a visit to her two years ago and I became fan of the vegetable since then," she said.
Md Alauddin, a vegetable retailer at Hatirpool Bazar in the city, said that supply of the item has been increasing for last few years.
He said: "We sold shalgam or olcopy only for two or three weeks a few years ago in winter season, but now you can get those vegetables for three to four months in a row."
However, shalgam and olcopy were sold at Tk25-30 per kg on Monday, according to city traders.
"The turnip is high in vitamin C. The green leaves of the turnip top are a good source of vitamin A, folate, vitamin C, vitamin K and calcium," Md Nazim Uddin, a scientist at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), said.
He also said that turnip leaves are high in lutein (8.5 mg / 100 g) which functions as a light filter, protecting the eye tissues from sunlight damage.
Low cost of cultivation and good output help rise in production of Brassica oleracea (olcopy) and Brassica rapa (shalgam) in the country, he said.
An official at Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said nearly 22-25 tonnes of olcopy is normally produced at per hectare of land.
"Farmers can easily make a profit of Tk40,000-50,000 with an investment of Tk 35,000 per hectare," he said.
The official added that using cow dung and potassium in the olcopy fields, production can be increased by 20-25 per cent.
In the last financial year (FY'14), vegetable production hit a record 12.6 million tones, of which output of shalgam and olcopy was 0.35 million tonnes combined, he said.
Production of the two crops was 0.1 million tonnes ten years back, a 250 per cent rise in a decade, he added.
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