JOYPURHAT, Oct 17: The marginal peasants of all the five upazilas of the district have started harvesting arum and getting fair price of the vegetable.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources, as the peasants of Akkelpur, Pachbibi, Kalai, Khetlal and Sadar upazilas had made a good profit from the cultivation of the crops last year. Now they have brought more lands under the farming of arum this season.
"I have cultivated some 0.45 acre of land spending Tk 12,000 to pay for seeds, fartiliser and labour cost in this current season," said farmer Abdul Jalil, under Akkelpur upazila of the district. "I have harvested around 0.23 acre of land and got 35 maund of the vegetable," he added.
To grow one bigha of land well, the farmers have to spend Tk 12,000 to Tk 13,000 and they can make a profit over Tk 50,000 to Tk 60,000. Meanwhile, arum farming is proved them more profitable than other crops cultivation in the area. Besides, the soil of the region is quite favourable for arum farming.
Farmer Helal Uddin, 56, under Pachbibi upazila of the district said, to harvest one bigha of land he is to pay Tk 2000 to 2500 for labour cost that is a burden for him. If the price remains much higher, he would be mostly benefited, he added.
Deputy Director of DAE Sudhenranath Roy said, "We have encouraged the root level growers to bring more land under arum cultivation every season. We have provided logistic support among the peasants to make the programme a grand success," he added.
