RAJSHAHI, July 20, 2017 (BSS)- Muhammad Ali, a farmer of Chandapur village under Bagmara Upazila of the district, has become self-reliant through betel leaf farming.
As the first betel leaf grower in his locality, Ali earned fame as a successful farmer in the region. His three sons- Aminul Islam, Abdul Hamid and Ali Hossain extend support to his works earnestly. By dint of his hardworking and relentless efforts towards the betel leaf farming, Ali built a concrete house for the first time in the area.
Witnessing his success many of his neighbours became inspired and established ‘Baraj’, unit of betel leaf farming, and they are now doing well.
At present, the three brothers have set up separate ‘baraj’ and they have also become successful farmers. “Earlier, we had scanty land, had only one ‘baraj’ and faced many problems. But, now we are owners of 12 bighas of land and have 4/5 ‘baraj’ separately,” said Aminul Islam while narrating their successes.
Aminul said they work very hard in the farming and pass most of their time in nursing betel leaf plants.
Though, they have little formal education, they are now committed to make their offspring well- educated with their earnings.
Abdul Hamid said demand of Bagmara’s betel leaf has enhanced gradually at different parts of the region including Bogra, Rangpur and Dinajpur. The leaf is also being exported to different Middle East countries and it has become very much popular in Saudi Arabia.
Earlier, we used to sell betel leaf at different local markets like Atrai, Taherpur, Mohangonj, Mollapara and Aloknagar. However, at present, Aloknagar has become a big market for betel leaf and many wholesalers and retailers come to the market from different areas to purchase betel leaf.
Abdul Hamid, however, said, betel-leaf production in Mohanpur, Bagmara and Paba Upazilas faces setback because of virus attack.
As such, farmers always remain worried about getting back their investment.
Abdul Hannan, Additional Director of DAE, Rajshahi said: “We provide necessary farming technology to the growers of betel leaf together with disease control measures.”
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Department of Agronomy of Rajshahi University, said betel leaf farming is profitable compared to many other crops.
He said Taka two to three lakh could easily be cashed from one bigha of land if the farming was modernized.
He said acreage of betel leaf farming is around 2,000 hectares in the district producing around 35,000 metric tons of crops valued at around Taka 90 crore annually and over 25,000 farmers are involved in its farming directly.
Betel-leaf grown in the district has gigh demand at home and abroad for its quality and flavour, he added.