MYMENSINGH — Azizul Haque, a farmer in the Poultrypara village of Sahnati Union in Gauripur upazila, has long grown various vegetables on his land each year. But recently, after seeing reports of beetroot cultivation in various places on YouTube, he became interested in the crop. Following advice from the local agriculture office, he grew beetroots on his land for the first time and turned a profit, agricultural officials said. His success has prompted many other farmers in the area to take up the crop.
According to the upazila and local agriculture office, beetroot is a foreign vegetable in demand at upscale hotels for salads, vegetable dishes and juice. The vegetable, which has various medicinal properties, is recognized as a superfood. Although production is higher in winter, beetroot is now available in the market nearly year-round, the office said. December is the most suitable time for planting, and the crop takes about 75 to 80 days from planting to market.
Last year, on the advice of the upazila agriculture office, Haque cultivated beetroot on 5 percent of his land. His costs came to 1,460 taka and his sales earned about 30,000 taka. Encouraged by his first success, he has cultivated beetroot on 17 percent of his land this year. He has already sold beetroot from 2 percent of his land for 18,000 taka and hopes to earn about 200,000 taka by selling the produce from the remaining 15 percent.
Haque said he took up the crop after watching beetroot cultivation videos on YouTube and consulting with the agriculture office. “When people heard about cultivating this foreign vegetable, many laughed at first,” he said. “Now, after seeing the success and demand, many farmers contact me about growing it.”
Md. Shariful Islam, an assistant upazila agriculture officer, said beetroots contain ample vitamins, iron, calcium, copper and other nutrients. “At first, no one was interested in growing this vegetable. Now, after Azizul Haque’s success, farmers in the area are showing great enthusiasm,” he said. Inspired by Haque’s example, farmers from many surrounding villages have also started cultivating beetroot, he said.
Mostafizur Rahman, a farmer from Dhopajangalia, said beetroot is easy to grow, low in cost and highly profitable. “Farmers didn’t know about it before. Now many are interested in cultivating this crop,” he said.
Nilufar Yasmin Joli, the upazila agriculture officer, said Haque was the first to grow beetroot in the upazila and had made a strong impression. “His success is spreading in every direction,” she said. “Because this crop is highly profitable, interest is growing among farmers. We regularly provide them with advice and support.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report