The field where the farmer has planted vegetables is in fact paddy land. At other times of the year he grows paddy here. But when the field lies empty or idle after the paddy is cut, the farmer has put the land to use rather than leaving it fallow. That is what has brought success. Hundreds of okra pods are hanging under the leaves.
Taking advice from the local agriculture office, the grower Bishu Ranjan Kapali planted okra two or three months ago. That okra is now “okra of promise.” The yield has come back to him as a success.
A recent visit to Tikoria Kapalipara village in Sreemangal upazila showed okra growing on both sides of the road.
Sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension said this okra variety is called “Duronto.” It is an agricultural product covered by the new-variety extension programme.
The grower Bishu said: “I planted okra on two kiar (bighas) of land in the month of Agrahayan. Okra began setting about 45 to 46 days after the seedlings came up. So far 20,000 taka has been spent. And after all costs, there will be a profit of about 70,000 to 80,000 taka per kiar.”
He said: “These plants are now about one and a half to two months old, and their yielding capacity will last about three to four months. I have been selling okra in the market for about a month. I will be able to sell for another two to two and a half months. About 150 to 200 kilograms of okra are being picked every other day now. At present I am selling at a wholesale price of 25 to 28 taka a kilogram. At the start we sold at 90 taka a kilogram. Then the price came down to 40 to 45 taka a kilogram. The market price does go up and down.”
Bishu said TSP, potash and gypsum fertilisers had been used here.
“We will plant paddy on this land in the month of Ashwin. For that we will cut down this okra towards the end of the month of Shrabon. Later, once the paddy harvest is over, we will plant some other vegetable on this land,” he said.
Another okra grower, Amar Kapali, said: “The okra we sold wholesale today at 25 taka a kilogram — traders sell that at double the price, sometimes at more than double. Vegetable wholesalers and sellers form syndicates and push the price up.”
Sub-assistant agriculture officer Samarjit Singh said: “We are helping the farmers of this area in various ways to produce okra and other agricultural products. The upazila agriculture office is beside every farmer for the development of agriculture.”
The upazila agriculture officer of Sreemangal, agriculturist Md Alauddin, told Banglanews: “Kapalipara village in Ashidron union of our Sreemangal upazila is very rich for agriculture. This village is called the okra village. On about 200 bighas of land in the area, farmers are growing okra instead of paddy. This leaves farmers very well off financially. After all costs, there is a profit of 70,000 to 80,000 taka a bigha.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report