Carrot production brings good income to Manikganj's farmers

MANIKGANJ, Feb 11: Carrot production has been bringing good income to thousands in Manikganj's Singair Upazila, which supplies nearly 40 per cent of the country's carrots after meeting local demand.

With favourable soil and weather, farmers are making profits of Tk 50,000 to Tk 60,000 per bigha. Traders, labourers, workers employed at carrot wash stations and nearly 10,000 farmers are currently involved in cultivation of the vegetable in the district.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, Singair, Manikganj, carrots are being cultivated in areas such as Joymontap,

Azimpur, Char Azimpur, Kangsha, Kitingchar, Mirirchar, Dosani, and Noyadanggi.

A field visit shows a hive of activity from early morning. Male labourers harvest carrots from the fields, while women workers quickly separate the leaves. The produce is then packed in plastic bags and transported to local washing stations, or kholas, where

cleaning, sorting, packaging and shipment take place using modern

machinery. Carrots from Singair are supplied to major wholesale markets in Dhaka Karwan Bazar, Jatrabari, Mirpur, Gazipur, Shambazar as well as to Sylhet, Cumilla, and other districts.

Abul Hossain

Bablu of Char Azimpur has been farming carrots for 22 years. This year, he cultivated on nine bighas of land, spending around Tk 350,000. He has so far sold carrots from seven bighas for Tk 700,000. He expects to earn Tk 200,000 more from the remaining two bighas. He has also grown papaya as an intercrop, and fruit has already begun appearing on his 12-bigha papaya field.

Another carrot farmer, Solaiman Hossain, says land preparation, seeds, fertiliser, pesticides, and labour cost him about Tk 40,000 per bigha. Those without their own land spend about Tk 10,000 more. He cultivated three and a half bighas this season, selling the vegetable from two and a half bighas for Tk 240,000. He expects another Tk 100,000 from the rest. His average yield is around 180 maunds per bigha.

Kitingchar farmer Moksed Hossain says carrots grown in Singair maintain good quality and it has steady demand nationwide.

This season, the crop has been good, and he has been selling carrots at Tk 20 to Tk 25 per kg.

He notes that the area's reputation helps secure better market access in distant wholesale hubs.

Farmer Rafiqul Islam added that despite producing nearly 40 per cent of the country's carrots, the region lacks a suitable cold storage facility. This creates challenges when production exceeds market capacity.

He believes proper government support could open doors

for carrot export, benefiting both farmers and the national economy. With its long shelf-life and high quality, Singair's carrots could attract exporters.

In the Bhakum area of Joymontap, trader Rubel Bepari's khola washes 200 to 250 maunds of carrots every day. He charges Tk 1,600 per maund for washing, packaging, and loading. The growing number of wash stations has also created significant employment.

Kamru, a labourer from Chinaduli in Jamalpur, works in Singair for three to three and a half months each season along with ten others from his village. They earn Tk 100 to Tk 120 for washing and repackaging each sack, making Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,200 per day.

Hoque Ali, a trader from Kamura village, bought carrot fields on 110 bighas of land this season. He purchased the fields for Tk 80,000 to Tk 100,000 per bigha and plans to supply the produce to markets until April. He says this business is not only profitable but also helps keep supply stable across the country.

Singair Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Habibul Bashar Chowdhury says the region's soil and climate is ideal for carrot cultivation. This season, on 905 hectares of land, the

upazila produced nearly 46,000 metric tonnes of carrots, which has an estimated market value of around Tk 1 billion.

He adds that since about 10,000 people are directly involved with the crop, the agriculture

office is encouraging farmers to grow papaya as an intercrop to ensure year-round income. He also mentioned plans to further expand carrot cultivation in the coming year.

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