Early potato farming a boon for growers
Cultivation of early variety potato has made the growers in Phulbari upazila happy as they are getting high yield and good price for their produce.
According to the Upazila Agriculture Officer ATM Hamim Ashraf, around 215 hectares of land have been brought under potato farming in Phulbari this year.
Harvesting of early potato is going on everywhere in the upazila, farmers said.
During a visit to different villages in the upazila in the last couple of days, this correspondent found that many farmers are passing a busy time harvesting the potatoes with hired labourers.
Faruk Hossain, a farmer of Rajarampur village, told this correspondent that he cultivated potato on one acre of land this year and got around 4.40 tonnes of the produce.
“I sold the potatoes at Tk 600 per maund from the field,” he said, adding that the yield last year was not good.
Md Nazrul Islam said he has been producing early potato on his one-acre land for the last five years. “The yield and the price are good this year,” he said.
He will cultivate maize on the same land after harvesting the potatoes, Nazrul said.
Upazila Agriculture Officer ATM Hamim Ashraf said early potato farming is a boon for its growers this year as they are getting a good yield and better price of their produce. Besides, they can cultivate other crops on the same land after completion of potato harvesting, he added.
“Cultivation of potato is still going on in the upazila,” he said.
Each kilogram of fresh potato is being sold for Tk 35 in the local markets.
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