By Md Aynal Haque

RAJSHAHI, Sept 14, 2022 (BSS) - Fruit-vegetable combined farming method is infusing dynamism into the local economy as it opened up a new horizon in the field of agriculture in the region, including its vast Barind tract.

Many farmers adopted the modern method because they are making additional income from the same land in less time benefiting the traders and consumers in many ways.

Varieties of fruits and vegetables, including guava, lemon, cucumber, brinjal, papaya, radish, bean, cauliflower, cabbage, red spinach (lal shak), chili, pointed gourd, white gourd and balsam apple (corola) are being intercropped with orange, malta and dragon.

Engineer Sarwar Jahan, an agriculture entrepreneur of Huzripara village in Paba Upazila, has built a malta orchard on nine bigha of land in 2020 and cultivated early winter varieties of cauliflower, cabbage and green chili on the same land this season.
 
He has been selling those for the last couple of weeks. Around ten days back, he sold only chili worth around Taka 45,000, with malta valued at around Taka 60,000.

"I'm also getting a lucrative price of cauliflower and cabbage," Sarwar Jahan said, adding he has more others of the high-value crops on the land.

He also has a plan of transplanting seedlings of pumpkin and cucumber after harvesting the cauliflower and cabbage.

Mofakkar Hossain, a madrasa teacher, has cultivated cauliflower and cabbage on his dragon orchard on three-bigha of land at Puthiyapara village under the same upazila.

Hossain said he gained success in both the dragon and vegetable farming commercially and that has brought economic emancipation to his life.

Mango intercropping with various cereal crops especially paddy has started contributing a lot towards boosting mango yield in the region.

The intercropping has been gaining momentum in the region including its vast Barind tract as the growers in general are getting interested in the farming.

In the wake of the adverse impact of climate change, the farmers have been facing trouble to depend on only paddy cultivation for the last couple of years.

To get more income and to recoup the losses, they are cultivating paddy, onion, garlic, brinjal, mustard, turmeric and papaya with mango. The farmers also created new mango orchards in the new method.

"I have an eight-bigha mango orchard of intercropping with various seasonal crops. I am getting additional income from farming," said Jamal Hossain, a farmer of Charghat Upazila in the district.

Paba Upazila Agriculture Officer Shafiqul Islam said vegetable has been cultivated on 40 hectares of land in the mixed farming system in the upazila during the current Kharip-2 season.

Islam said the multiple cropping increases farmers profit with boosting soil fertility.

Mozder Hossain, Deputy Director of Department of Agricultural Extension, said farmers' interest in the method is seen rising gradually as they are reaping more profit in less time.

Quoting the latest official data he said vegetables have been cultivated on around 2,000 hectares in the mixed system in the district in the current season.