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PABNA, Feb 10: Local farmers have been disappointed as the prices of groundnut seeds have almost doubled in Bera upazila of the district this cultivation season.
Agriculture office sources said a large quantity of groundnut is produced every year in the sandy loam soil of the upazila. Farmers are now spending a busy time in groundnut cultivation after the bone-shaking winter subsided.
However, this time compared to last year's, farmers are struggling to buy almond seeds at almost double price. Peanut is one of the cash crops of the grasslands. Farmers said that the period from the beginning of Bengali month Magh to the middle of Falgun month is the almond cultivation season.
Farmers said that last year the price of almond seeds was Tk 5,000 to 6,000. But this year, the same types of seeds have to be bought for Tk 9,000 to 11,000.Farmers are dismayed as the cost of production increases due to increase in the price of all inputs, including seeds.
Tofazzal Mir, an almond farmer of Char Nagdah village, said he has sown almond seeds on 10 bigha of land in the last one week.
It is very difficult to find labourers during the severe winter. Many farmers are reluctant to cultivate almonds this year as the price of almond seeds has doubled this year.
Ghaznavi Molla of Char Safulla village said due to an increase in the prices of all kinds of materials, including seeds, he is preparing to cultivate almonds on 10 bigha land instead of 20 bigha land.
Local UP member Zahid Molla said till now almond farmers have sown almond seeds on about 500 bigha land in Char area. He said that the work of sowing almond seeds will continue till the middle of next Falgun month.
Bera Upazila Agriculture Officer, agriculturist Nusrat Kabir, told this correspondent that this season a target has been set to cultivate groundnut on 1,490 hectares of land in Bera, which is 10 hectares more than last year.