BSS, Rajshahi :
Around 18.09 lakh tonnes of spice crops are expected to be yielded from 1.58 lakh hectares of land in all eight districts under the division during the current Rabi season.
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has set the target of producing 8.28 lakh tonnes spices from 71,746 hectares of land in four districts under Rajshahi Agricultural Zone, while 9.81 lakh tonnes from 85,680 hectares of land in four other districts of Bogura Agricultural Zone.
The DAE has also set the target of producing 13.09 lakh tonnes of onion from 90,430 hectares of land, 4.65 lakh tonnes of garlic from 51,062 hectares, 29,957 tonnes of chili from 12,640 hectares, 1,348 tonnes of black cumin from 1,239 hectares and 2,881 tonnes of coriander from 2,335 hectares of land.
Various agricultural extension and research organizations have taken all possible measures to attain the target as the demand for the spice crops is gradually mounting with the rising population.
Presently, the local kitchen markets have become plentiful with the newly harvested tuber onion, green chili and other winter vegetables.
Farmers are also happy after getting both good yield and market price of the summer chili everywhere in the region. Around 9,000 farmers were given seeds and fertilizers worth around Taka 25.12 crore as incentives for onion farming in the division under the current rabi season’s agricultural incentive programme, said Sirajul Islam, Additional Director of DAE.
Around 21,000 hectares of land were brought under the tuber onion cultivation in the division this year.
Meanwhile, farming of onion may break all the previous records in the region including its vast Barind tract as farmers are seen showing interest in cultivating the spice crops.
More than 1,500 volunteers are motivating farmers to cultivate less water consuming crops through water resource management on behalf of the ‘Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)’ Project.
DASCOH Foundation has been implementing the IWRM project in 1,280 drought-hit villages of 39 Union Parishad and three municipalities in eight upazilas of Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts supported by Switzerland since 2015.
IWRM Project Coordinator Jahangir Alam Khan said promotion of less-water consuming crops in the Barind area is a good sign for lessening the gradually mounting pressure on its underground water.
In nature, farmers of the region are habituated to farming various vegetables including the spice crops.
Sazammul Haque, a farmer of Darusha village under Paba Upazila, said he had sold onion seedlings at Tk 1,300 to 1,500 per mound in the previous years.
Kamrul Islam, another farmer of Duary village, said he has cultivated onion seed on five bighas of land at a cost of around Tk three lakh and hoping of making profit due to rising its price.
Anwar Hossain of Bidirpur village under Godagari Upazila, said he’s cultivating onions for the first time this year. He bought seedlings at a cost of Tk 2,200 per maund.
Mozdar Hossain, Deputy Director of DAE, said there is a prospect of massive onion farming this time adding that farming can be spread to more land this year than last year.
