FARIDPUR, Mar 09: Cumin seeds have been successfully cultivated for three years at Faridpur Spice Research Sub-station under Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute.
Sources said, cumin is cultivated widely in India, Morocco, China, Russia, Indonesia, Japan and Turkey. But cumin cultivation has also shown huge potential in Bangladesh. Farmers will be able to harvest the spice crop within three months.
Officials at the Faridpur Spice Research Sub-station have produced the crop under a shed for the first time, but they have expressed their hope of growing it at the farmers' level.
Researchers said they want to expand cumin cultivation across the district. It is an important ingredient for cooking and pharmaceutical industry.
Cumin is used to make medicines for diarrhea, ayurvedic and veterinary medicine. Cumin contains a variety of minerals, including sugar and fibre.
Chief Scientific Officer of Faridpur Spice Research Sub-station MM Kamruzzaman said, "Although cumin is not a crop of our country, we are trying to produce it in the climate of the country. We have achieved the success in this regard and the possibility of growing cumin in Bangladesh has also been created. Soon we will start producing cumin on commercial basis."
"Cumin is generally a winter crop. Cumin grows well good in highly fertile soils with well-formed medium to heavy texture. Cumin could be produced around 500 kg to 600 kg per hectare of land," he added.
According to sources, cumin seeds are generally 20 to 30 centimetres long. There are currently four types of cumin - tall, short, pink and white flowers. It is cultivated as a winter crop.
Cumin seeds are generally sown from November to December. When dry weather prevails in February and March, flower buds and seed formation are completed.
Cumin matures within 80 to 120 days. This crop needs to be harvested when the plants becomes yellowish, leaves disappear and the seeds have a light grayish brown colour.
