Harvesting of tuberose produced successfully for the first time here has started in Sadullapur upazila in the district very recently.
According to sources, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) adopted Second Crop Diversification Project in 52 upazilas, including Sadullapur upazila, across the country in 2010.
In 2014, under this project, a pragmatic plan was also taken to farm tuberose in farmers’ level of the upazila for the first time to meet its growing demand in the market and help the growers to earn economical profit.
Being motivated by the upazila agriculture office, a total of 33 farmers of different villages including Tarafal, Bhatgram, Pacharbazaar, Baradaudpur, Tarafbazit, Edilpur, Chhaigari, Dhaperhat, Faridpur, Naldanga and Ghegarbazar of the upazila brought their land under tuberose farming in April this year.
To make the farming of tuberose in the upazila a grand success the upazila agriculture office provided high quality seed (corm) to the farmers and imparted training to them.
Farmer SM Milan Ahmed of Tarafal village in the upazila said he had planted corm of tuberose on 12 decimal of land and all the plants of the tuberose grow well on his orchard. On Thursday, he harvested the crop and sold it to the traders of the local market at fair prices.
Like Ahmed, other growers of the upazila had started harvesting the crop and selling it to the local market amid much enthusiasm.
Upazila Agriculture Officer M Obaidur Rahman Mondal said as per the directions of the higher officials of the project he motivated the farmers to farm tuberose in the upazila for the first time.
Sub assistant agriculture officer M Abdur Rab said if a farmer farmed it on a land; he could start harvesting it within three months and would get yield 3 years at a stretch.
DAE Deputy Director Mir Abdur Razzak also expressed his satisfaction and said the cultivation would be expanded in larger scale in other parts of the upazila and its neighboring areas in next seasons.
Talking to the BSS project director M Hamidur Rahman said earlier, high value crops including summer tomato, summer gourd, malta fruit and gladiolus flower were also produced in the upazila successfully under the project side by side with other crops.
