MAGURA, Aug 13: Papaya cultivation is gaining popularity in the district.
A good number of farmers have attained financial solvency from the farming of papaya.
Sources said farmers show their interest in growing the item for getting good production and fair market prices.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Magura, sources said some 920 hectares of land have been brought under the farming of papaya this season. Some 20,000 people in the district are engaged in papaya production.
Wahab Biswas, a farmer of Nanduali village under Magura Sadar, said he grows papaya at his two-bigha orchard.
"I have already made a profit of Tk 60,000 and expecting Tk 50,000 more this season", he added.
Another farmer Mukter Hossein of Baroipara village under Sreepur upazila said he has been farming papaya for over 10 years.
Terming it as a profitable venture the grower said some 50 farmers of the village are cultivating papaya for years.
Trader Bulu Sharif of the district town said papaya is being sold at Tk 30 per kg. Locally-produced papaya is being transported to different districts across the country due to high demand.
Magura DAE official Gobinda Dash weather of the area is suitable for papaya cultivation. The department provides all necessary support to the growers in this connection.
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