Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Farmers expect to make a hefty profit from the sale of seedlings of vegetables including cabbage and cauliflower in Churamankathi union of Jashore sadar upazila this season.
Cabbage and cauliflower seedlings were produced on 750 bighas of land in Abdulpur of Churamankathi union last season. This season it has increased to 1,025 bighas. Most of the seedlings are healthy and vigorous; as a result, prices will be higher.
Cabbage and cauliflower seedlings have been being cultivated commercially in Abdulpur for the past 50 years. Consequently, Abdulpur has become known as the village of vegetables. Production of these seedlings is gradually increasing here.
Seeing the success of others, new farmers are turning to seedling production in the hope of changing their fortune. Many farmers of nearby Bagdanga village have also started producing vegetable seedlings.
Azim Uddin of Abdulpur village said that he had been producing cabbage seedlings for the past six years.
This time too, he produced a total of 80 kg cabbage seeds and sowed them on 12 kathtas of land. The cost of producing seedlings per bed is estimated at Tk1,000.
But he hinted at the possibility of selling seedlings for more than Tk2,500 per bed.
Another farmer Golam Rasul said that he was producing cauliflower seedlings on one bigha of land.
The quality of seedlings here is well known in remote parts of the country. As a result, they can sell seedlings at a higher price. Last season he sold seedlings worth Tk0.35million (Tk3.5 lakh). This time sale is expected to exceed Tk0.4million (Tk4 lakh).
Some farmers in Abdulpur said that they had sold more than Tk200million (Tk20 crore) worth of seedlings last season.
The farmers are now expecting to sell seedlings worth Tk300million (Tk30 crore) this season.
This time, arable land has increased for the production of seedlings. As a result, sales will be higher.
The assistant agriculture officer of Churamankati union said that at the beginning seedbeds were prepared on the land and then the cabbage and cauliflower seeds were sown. It takes about a month for seedlings to grow from seeds. They sell these seedlings to farmers in different areas. Last year vegetable seedlings were produced on 750 bighasof land.
This time, farmers have planted fodder on 1,025 bighas of land. Cabbage and cauliflower seedlings produced in Abdulpur are sent to different parts of the country every day.
Many people have elevated their fortune by producing vegetable seedlings. Many farmers have become millionaires.
Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Mohammad Hasan Ali said apart from Jashore, farmers from different upazilas of Khulna, Satkhira, Narail, Magura, Kushtia, Jhenaidah, Meherpur and Chuadangar districts came and bought cabbage and cauliflower seedlings.
Farmers are becoming self-sufficient by producing cabbage and cauliflower seedlings, he added.
Sushant Kumar Tarafdar, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Jashore, said that cabbage and cauliflower seedlings are produced commercially on a large scale in Abdulpur of Churamankathi union.
New farmers are getting interested as the profit is much higher than the cost of production. As a result, seedling production has gradually increased both in value and volume.