The Madhumati river once flowed through the villages of Tita, Nandrigram, Kumurtia and Tita Panail in Togorbondo union of the upazila; the river has now turned into an oxbow lake (baor). The stretch of the Madhumati through part of Gopalpur village has also become a baor. On the fallow char land on both sides of these baors, taro (kachu) is being grown. Demand for the char-grown taro is high, and it grows well in the silty loam soil, which, being of good quality, needs little fertiliser and pesticide, giving farmers greater profit. Taro cultivation has also increased in various parts of the upazila, with baor-side farmers growing white taro on low land.
Khokon Sheikh, a farmer from Nandrigram beside the Madhumati baor, said: “This year I grew taro on 60 decimals of land. My total cost was about 1.5 lakh taka. About 5,000 taro plants have grown in the field, and traders take them at 50 taka a piece. I have been selling taro stolons since Ramadan and have sold more than half a lakh taka worth. If the weather stays favourable, I expect a profit of 1.5 lakh taka from the 60 decimals this year.”
Ashraf Khan, a farmer from Gopalpur village, said: “I leased 11 decimals of land for 1,100 taka and spent 12,000 taka growing taro. About 1,000 taro have grown, and I have sold most of them; traders bought them at 35-40 taka a piece from the field. I expect a profit of 22,000-25,000 taka from the field this year.” Sabuj Mia, a vegetable seller at Alfadanga Sadar market, said: “The Alfadanga market sits twice a week. I buy taro from Nandigram and Gopalpur villages and sell it on market days, buying each piece at an average of 35-50 taka and selling at 50-80 taka.” Mahtab Uddin, who bought a large taro for 80 taka at Alfadanga, said: “Taro is cheaper than other vegetables in the market, and everyone in the family likes to eat it.”
Alfadanga upazila agriculture officer Tushar Saha said: “In recent years, along with demand for taro, the area under cultivation has also grown in the Madhumati char. This vegetable can be grown with little labour, so farmers of the Madhumati char are turning to taro.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report