By Dr Aynal Haque

   
  RAJSHAHI, Nov 10, 2021 (BSS) - Like the previous couple of years, both
retail and wholesale markets here have become abundant with the appearance of
early varieties of winter vegetables making both the sellers and buyers happy
for the last couple of weeks.

   Farmers in the region, including the vast Barind tract, are successfully
producing early varieties of winter vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage,
radish, carrot, beet, turnip, tomato, leafy spinach, red spinach, and
receiving lucrative prices in the wholesale markets.

   They are also very much happy as they avail the scopes of recouping the
losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic situation through getting the
lucrative high price markets of early varieties of vegetables.

   Officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said around
20.26 lakh tonnes of vegetables are expected to be produced from 90,220
hectares of land in all eight districts in Rajshahi division during the
current Rabi season.

   Atanu Sarker, Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer of Godagari Upazila, said
hundreds and thousands of farmers have become happy after attaining good
yield and lucrative market price in the early winter.

  He said vegetable farming in both commercial and homestead methods are
gradually increasing in the vast Barind tract as many people are seen
inclined towards the farming leaving behind the high-irrigation consuming
crops.

   On behalf of the 'Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)' project,
more than 12.58 lakh community people of 2.66 lakh households are being
motivated and encouraged towards vegetable farming to reduce the pressure on
underground water.

   The project is being implemented by DASCOH Foundation at around 1,280
drought-hit villages in 39 Union Parishads and three municipalities of eight
upazilas in Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts since 2015, said
Jahangir Alam Khan, Coordinator of the project.

   Swapan Ali, 45, a farmer of Panchandar village under Tanore Upazila, has
become an icon of vegetable cultivation in his locality. His annual earnings
are around Taka 3 to 4 lakh on an average at present. He has started
vegetable farming with Brinjal on only five decimal of fellow land after
failing to get irrigation water for Irri-boro farming around five years back.

  Muktar Ali, 45, has become delighted with good yield and lucrative market
price of his newly harvested early winter vegetables and at present inspiring
many others to vegetable farming.

  A resident of Hatibandha village under Godagari Upazila, Ali has developed
himself as a potential vegetable farmer in the region. He has cultivated
cabbage on three bigha of land, papaya on one bigha and brinjal on three
bigha of land.

 "I have been selling cabbage at Taka 20-25 per piece and brinjal at Taka 80-
90 per kilogram from my land directly for the last couple of weeks," Ali
said, adding that the selling price has delighted him very much.
 
  His co-villager Saiful Alam, 30, has brought three bigha of land under
papaya, brinjal and cabbage each and he's happy with his sale-proceeds.

 Jamil Ahammed, 53, another farmer of Fulbari village under the same upazila,
has cultivated around 10,000 cauliflowers on two bigha of land and the field
has now become eye-catching. He's expected to start harvesting the vegetable
within the next couple of days.

   Ahammed said the cauliflower was seen selling at Taka 80-90 per piece just
a few days back at the local wholesale market.