BSS, Rajshahi :
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has set a target of yielding around 1.30 lakh tonnes sweet potato from around 8,100 hectares land in the country’s northwest region during the current season.
Sources said the DAE and other government and non-government organizations concerned have taken necessary measures to make the sweet potato cultivation a success in the region.
Additional Director of DAE Fazlur Rahman told BSS that the sandy lands and the riverbeds are suitable for the sweet potato cultivation. So, people of the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins and the remote char areas are habituated in the farming widely besides consuming it.
Production cost of the crop is very low, as it requires less fertilizer and irrigation. He said nutritive value of the crop is similar to rice and its taste is delicious.
It contains vitamin-A and C and expected mineral elements, which are absent in rice. It is also enriched with protein, carbohydrate, calcium, iron, carotene and vitamin B1 and B2, which are essential for human body.
An adult person needs 13 grams vitamin-A per day that can be fulfilled after consuming only a single sweet potato.
Agriculturist Rahman mentioned that people of Philippines and Papua New Guinea consume sweet potato as alternative of rice while in USA and Japan it is used as food widely.
He also mentioned that different types of tasty foods like halua, payesh, bread, pauruti, biscuit, pastry and cake could be made through processing the indigenous potato.
“If we can make the people habituated to sweet potato consumption the nation can reduce its dependence on rice to a greater extent,” he said adding that steps should be taken to make the people in general aware in this regard. In this context, he also said importance should be given to providing adequate training and agri-loans among the farmers.
ATM Rafiqul Islam, Deputy Manager of Barind Multipurpose Development Authority, said there is an enormous scope of boosting both acreage and yield of the indigenous crop through the best uses of the existing natural resources.
He said need-based steps should be taken for proper utlilization of its potentialities.
Farmers’ interest in vegetable farming in Barind tract
Farmers of the region, including the vast Barind tract, are humming with vegetable farming due to economic prospect of the crop.
Rajshahi has been regarded as the country’s most prospective vegetable producing region. Production of vegetable is one of the major income-generating activities in the region, Agriculturist ATM Rafiqul Islam here said. In terms of food and nutritive values green vegetables are vital as these are enriched with enormous vitamin A, B, C, calcium and iron which are essential for human body irrespective of age and sex.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has set a target of yielding around 1.30 lakh tonnes sweet potato from around 8,100 hectares land in the country’s northwest region during the current season.
Sources said the DAE and other government and non-government organizations concerned have taken necessary measures to make the sweet potato cultivation a success in the region.
Additional Director of DAE Fazlur Rahman told BSS that the sandy lands and the riverbeds are suitable for the sweet potato cultivation. So, people of the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins and the remote char areas are habituated in the farming widely besides consuming it.
Production cost of the crop is very low, as it requires less fertilizer and irrigation. He said nutritive value of the crop is similar to rice and its taste is delicious.
It contains vitamin-A and C and expected mineral elements, which are absent in rice. It is also enriched with protein, carbohydrate, calcium, iron, carotene and vitamin B1 and B2, which are essential for human body.
An adult person needs 13 grams vitamin-A per day that can be fulfilled after consuming only a single sweet potato.
Agriculturist Rahman mentioned that people of Philippines and Papua New Guinea consume sweet potato as alternative of rice while in USA and Japan it is used as food widely.
He also mentioned that different types of tasty foods like halua, payesh, bread, pauruti, biscuit, pastry and cake could be made through processing the indigenous potato.
“If we can make the people habituated to sweet potato consumption the nation can reduce its dependence on rice to a greater extent,” he said adding that steps should be taken to make the people in general aware in this regard. In this context, he also said importance should be given to providing adequate training and agri-loans among the farmers.
ATM Rafiqul Islam, Deputy Manager of Barind Multipurpose Development Authority, said there is an enormous scope of boosting both acreage and yield of the indigenous crop through the best uses of the existing natural resources.
He said need-based steps should be taken for proper utlilization of its potentialities.
Farmers’ interest in vegetable farming in Barind tract
Farmers of the region, including the vast Barind tract, are humming with vegetable farming due to economic prospect of the crop.
Rajshahi has been regarded as the country’s most prospective vegetable producing region. Production of vegetable is one of the major income-generating activities in the region, Agriculturist ATM Rafiqul Islam here said. In terms of food and nutritive values green vegetables are vital as these are enriched with enormous vitamin A, B, C, calcium and iron which are essential for human body irrespective of age and sex.
