Pulse farming gains popularity in Jashore

Black gram (mashkalai daal) cultivation has become very popular among farmers in Chaugachha upazila of Jashore district and they are expecting a bumper yield of the crop this season.

This year more land has been brought under black gram cultivation in the upazila compared to the previous year, Chaugachha Upazila Agriculture Office sources said. Black gram has been cultivated in around 200 hectares of land in the upazila this year, the sources said.

Despite a bumper yield due to favourable weather, farmers are worried over the fair price of their produce. Farmers alleged that the price of their produce goes down during the harvesting period. Some wholesalers buy the crop at a low price from the farmers and later hike the price reducing the farmers' profit margin, they claimed.

Kadamtala, Mashila, Madhabpur, Kharincha, Andarkota, Hazrakhana and Tengurpur villages of the upazila have been extensively brought under the cultivation of black gram.

Jahangir Alam, a farmer of Kadamtala area said that it is a very profitable crop as it does not require much labour, fertilizers, irrigation and pesticides like other crops.

Farmers Rahmat Ali, Ayub Hossain, Monirul Islam, Haider Ali, Amir Hossain, Suna Mandal and many others have cultivated black gram this year in the upazila.

Apart from the black gram, mung bean (Vigna radiata), alternatively known as the green gram, has been cultivated in 205 hectares of land in the upazila this year.

According to sources, the origin of mung bean is in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The crop is widely cultivated in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, China and Korea.

Abdul Mannan, a veteran physician, said that both black gram and mung bean contain a high amount of fibre, potassium and magnesium which are effective in lowering blood pressure. Due to the presence of fibre and resistant starch, they help our metabolic system.

About 20.4 grams of fibre is found in 202 grams of these pulses, he added.

Upazila Agriculture Officer Samaren Biswas said, mung daal and black gram, also known as mashkalai daal in Bangla, are two must-have varieties of pulses for Bangladeshi families.

"We have been cooperating and imparting training to the farmers for the cultivation of the crops," he said.