Anisul Islam Noor :
The garlic farming area increased by 10,000 to 12,000 hectares this year in view of the attractive market prices of the item.
The primary target was to produce 3,50,000 tonnes of garlic on 70 million hectares of land this season, said Chaitanya Das, Director of Field Service Wing under the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
Rajshahi, Kushtia, Jessore, Faridpur, Dinajpur and Comilla districts are the major garlic producing regions in the country.
Lucrative market price of garlic has encouraged the farmers to grow more and more spice this winter, he said.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data showed that the garlic production nearly doubled from around 1,44,000 tonnes in the FY10 to 2,75,000 tonnes in FY16 while the cultivation land increased from 33,000 hectares to 55,000 hectares during the period.
The spice production witnessed a 7-18 per cent growth year-on- year during the period
The farming increased in the country both in terms of area and production in the the last six years, but import still dominates the domestic market, observers said.
According to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the price remained volatile in 2016 and ranged between Tk 120 to Tk 260 a kg.
Samad Mia, a farmer from Tanor in Rajshahi said that they incurred losses during the last few years by producing potato, tomato and other vegetables and rice.
“But we get handsome returns from garlic and onion,” he said.
The garlic and onion plantation started with the completion of harvest of Aman crop in his area. Many of the farmers are expanding the cultivation area this season because of the high price, he added.
In March, the farmers sold the item at Tk 34-42 a kg against a production cost of Tk 24-26 a kg.
Farmers have made a profit of Tk 14,000-14,500 per bigha (33 decimal) of land, he said. Ainal Hoque, a farmer-cum trade
from Mohammadpur in Magura district said seeds of some high-yielding varieties are becoming popular in the recent years, contributing to increase production.
If the price trend continues during the upcoming harvesting season, he expects a windfall profit from his two bighas of land.
Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) Assistant Director TM Rashed Khan said that farmers usually incur losses or make five to 15 per cent profit by cultivating potato, rice and vegetables compared with 30-60 percent profit on spices like garlic, onion and ginger, and oilseeds and pulses.
Farm economist Prof Gazi M Jalil said, gradual hike in demand to spices like garlic, onion and ginger has helped push up the prices at the farm level, which is encouraging.
He said a shortfall in production in China last year helped farmers gain good profit from garlic as price of imported product remained higher in the domestic market.
“But we should remember that we still import garlic more than 50 per cent of our demand,” he added.
“To boost local production further, the farmers should always be encouraged with good returns,” he said.
A leading spice importer from Shyambazar in the city, Narayan Chandra Saha, said import cost for Chinese garlic has swelled up to US $2,100-$2,180 per tonne in October-November this year which was $1,050- $1,100 a tonne during the corresponding period of last year.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, there is a demand for 550,000 tonnes of garlic in the country.
The country’s import expenditure on garlic was nearly Tk 17.5 billion during the last fiscal year.
The garlic farming area increased by 10,000 to 12,000 hectares this year in view of the attractive market prices of the item.
The primary target was to produce 3,50,000 tonnes of garlic on 70 million hectares of land this season, said Chaitanya Das, Director of Field Service Wing under the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
Rajshahi, Kushtia, Jessore, Faridpur, Dinajpur and Comilla districts are the major garlic producing regions in the country.
Lucrative market price of garlic has encouraged the farmers to grow more and more spice this winter, he said.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data showed that the garlic production nearly doubled from around 1,44,000 tonnes in the FY10 to 2,75,000 tonnes in FY16 while the cultivation land increased from 33,000 hectares to 55,000 hectares during the period.
The spice production witnessed a 7-18 per cent growth year-on- year during the period
The farming increased in the country both in terms of area and production in the the last six years, but import still dominates the domestic market, observers said.
According to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the price remained volatile in 2016 and ranged between Tk 120 to Tk 260 a kg.
Samad Mia, a farmer from Tanor in Rajshahi said that they incurred losses during the last few years by producing potato, tomato and other vegetables and rice.
“But we get handsome returns from garlic and onion,” he said.
The garlic and onion plantation started with the completion of harvest of Aman crop in his area. Many of the farmers are expanding the cultivation area this season because of the high price, he added.
In March, the farmers sold the item at Tk 34-42 a kg against a production cost of Tk 24-26 a kg.
Farmers have made a profit of Tk 14,000-14,500 per bigha (33 decimal) of land, he said. Ainal Hoque, a farmer-cum trade
from Mohammadpur in Magura district said seeds of some high-yielding varieties are becoming popular in the recent years, contributing to increase production.
If the price trend continues during the upcoming harvesting season, he expects a windfall profit from his two bighas of land.
Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) Assistant Director TM Rashed Khan said that farmers usually incur losses or make five to 15 per cent profit by cultivating potato, rice and vegetables compared with 30-60 percent profit on spices like garlic, onion and ginger, and oilseeds and pulses.
Farm economist Prof Gazi M Jalil said, gradual hike in demand to spices like garlic, onion and ginger has helped push up the prices at the farm level, which is encouraging.
He said a shortfall in production in China last year helped farmers gain good profit from garlic as price of imported product remained higher in the domestic market.
“But we should remember that we still import garlic more than 50 per cent of our demand,” he added.
“To boost local production further, the farmers should always be encouraged with good returns,” he said.
A leading spice importer from Shyambazar in the city, Narayan Chandra Saha, said import cost for Chinese garlic has swelled up to US $2,100-$2,180 per tonne in October-November this year which was $1,050- $1,100 a tonne during the corresponding period of last year.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, there is a demand for 550,000 tonnes of garlic in the country.
The country’s import expenditure on garlic was nearly Tk 17.5 billion during the last fiscal year.
