Kurigram char villages see good yield of mung 6

Women workers collect mung bean during the ongoing peak harvesting season at a field of Khamarmundia village in Kaliganj upazila under Jhenidah district that sees large-scale cultivation of the popular food item. PHOTO: STAR

Harvest of mung bean is going on in full swing in different areas of Jhenidah district that sees gradual rise in cultivation of the popular food item.
In Kurigram, first time cultivation of BARI mung-6 variety, invented by Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), produced good yield in three char (landmass emerged from riverbed) villages of the district this year.
Our Jhenidah Correspondent reports: This season farmers in Jhenidah district used 6,940 hectares of land for cultivation of Bari mung-6 against the target of 6,146 hectares, said sources of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).
Mung bean was cultivated on 4,360 and 3,108 hectares of land in the district in 2012 and 2011 respectively.
"I cultivated Bari mung-6 on my one and a half bighas of land in the season. I am expecting 13 maunds of yield that might bring about Tk 25 thousand. The same plot would bring Tk 20 thousand if I cultivated paddy there," said Altaf Hossain, a farmer of Jhenidah Sadar upazila.
Thousands of women are now engaged in farmlands for bean collection.
"I collect 15 to 20 kg of the beans from the fields of the farmers and get Tk 10 for each kg," said Jharna Khatun, 35, a housewife of Khamarmundia village under Kaliganj upazila.
School students Rina Khatun and Sabina Pervin said they earn Tk 80 to 100 a day by working in the mung bean fields after school hours.
The seasonal earning helps them to cover their education expenses  and help their poor families.
Farmers in the district produced 7,036 and 6,063 tonnes of mung bean in 2012 and 2011 fiscal.
"Mung bean farming has been increasing in the district as the farmers are encouraged due to its good profit. It is also helping women's employment," said Joynul Abedin, deputy director of DAE in Jhenidah.
Our Kurigram correspondent reports: First time cultivation of Bari mung-6 variety sees good yield in char areas of the district this year.
Farmers cultivated mung bean on a total of 75 bighas of land in Char Nidhiram and Char Madhobram villages of Mogalbasha union under Sadar upazila and Char Berubari village of Berubari union under Nageswari upazila.
They are receiving around six maunds of pulse per bigha of land.
Local agriculture department motivated the farmers to cultivate the highly nutritious and productive Bari mung-6 variety.
The harvesting started formally at Char Nidhirum on June 10 in presence of agriculturists.
“For the first time this year, mung bean has been cultivated on some lands that were earlier covered with catkin plants. We hope to get profit of Tk 10,000 to Tk 13,000 per bigha of field from the cultivation. We will cultivate the variety on more areas of lands next time,” said Nurul Islam, a farmer of Char Nidhiram.