Yellow inside green leaves, pink and purple in one place, blue in another: from a distance the fields look like beds of flowers. They are not flowers but winter cauliflower and cabbage, and the sight can be seen in villages across Dumuria upazila in Khulna.
On a visit to the fields, yellow, pink and light red cauliflowers were standing in the plots. Beyond the look of them, they have drawn plenty of buyers at Dumuria market.
With the agriculture department and other government initiatives, coloured cauliflower and cabbage are being grown across wide fields in several upazilas of Khulna. Pests are controlled with organic methods, pheromone traps and yellow sticky traps, and yields are good. Strong demand has brought farmers good prices, and they are recovering losses made on other vegetables this season. Wholesalers come and buy straight from the fields. In local markets coloured cauliflower sells for Tk 30 to 40 a kilogram, and farmers are pleased with the results.
Growers in Kharnia union say that while white cauliflower sells for Tk 10, the coloured kind still fetches Tk 30 to 40 a head. Abu Hanif Morol of Kharnia village grew coloured cauliflower on 20 decimals of land. Planting 1,000 seedlings on trial, he succeeded with coloured cabbage for the first time. Besides the seedlings, the upazila agriculture office gave him organic fertiliser, pesticide and advice.
Like Abu Hanif Morol, four more growers, among them Mrityunjoy, have done well with coloured cauliflower and cabbage. Where a white cauliflower sells for Tk 10 to 15, his coloured cabbage and cauliflower are selling for Tk 30 to 40. He has already sold part of his crop and hopes to earn Tk 60,000 to 70,000 from the rest. He also plans to grow it on a bigger scale in future.
On the agriculture office’s advice, Abu Hanif Morol and Mrityunjoy grew the coloured cauliflower organically, using yellow traps against insects, which kept the crop healthy and free of poison.
“This cauliflower is very good in nutrition and quality,” said vegetable trader Abdul Jalil. “Coloured cauliflower sells out as soon as it reaches the market, and the price is as hoped.”
Local buyer Akirul said he bought coloured cauliflower at Tk 25. It looks attractive and tastes good, he said; he had eaten it twice before, so he bought it again.
“Farmers have got the yield and market price they hoped for from coloured cauliflower and cabbage,” said Dumuria Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Nazmul Huda. “Coloured cabbage and cauliflower are far more nutritious than white cauliflower and contain high levels of antioxidants, which are very good for health. This year cauliflower was grown on 110 hectares in Dumuria upazila, and coloured cauliflower was planned on 25 acres of that. With high demand in the market, more farmers will take it up next year.”
Farmers have grown the unusual winter vegetables, some yellow, some pink-purple, across wide fields in Dumuria, without chemical pesticide, using only organic pest control and pheromone traps.
Farmer Rashedul Islam said he grew coloured cauliflower on 10 decimals with seed from United Seed Company, using only organic pest control and pheromone traps. “With strong demand, wholesalers are buying the cauliflower straight from the field. The price is good too,” he said.
“I grew coloured cauliflower for the first time and the yield was very good,” said farmer Imtiaz. “Using pheromone traps and yellow traps against pests, I got about 1,500 heads from 22 decimals, at a cost of only Tk 12,000. I am selling each head wholesale at Tk 30 to 35 and have sold Tk 30,000 worth so far, with more to come. People are keen to buy the coloured kinds. I spent little and made a good profit, and next time I will grow it on more land.”
“On land near my house I planted 5,000 seedlings in all: white, pink, green and yellow cauliflower, as well as broccoli, Chinese cabbage, red cabbage and ordinary cabbage,” said Tapas Sarkar of Baratia village in the upazila. “The yield was good and I got a good price. But I regret not getting the price I hoped for from other winter vegetables. The coloured cauliflower and cabbage have made up the loss and given me some relief.”
Chhamidul said he had leased land this year for Tk 60,000 and planted various kinds of cauliflower, cabbage, potato, garlic and tomato. Of these, 4,000 coloured cauliflower and cabbage seedlings came free from a local private organisation; he bought the rest at Tk 1.80 each. Land preparation, fertiliser, pesticide and labour cost him about Tk 1 lakh, he said.
“Under the sustainable agriculture development project, coloured cauliflower and cabbage have been grown in the district for the past two years,” said Md Nazrul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Khulna. “Many farmers have done well. With good demand, commercial growing of coloured cauliflower will rise, and other farmers are showing interest too.”
No chemical pesticide or fertiliser is applied in the fields; only organic pest control with pheromone traps and yellow sticky traps, and the yield is good. Coloured cauliflower is a vegetable with medicinal value and tastes good. It contains more than 25 per cent more carotene than ordinary cauliflower, which is good for the skin and eyes. It contains several vitamins, including A, C and K, along with minerals, potassium and manganese, and plenty of beta-carotene, which acts as an antioxidant.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report