Farmers in 13 upazila of Kishoreganj district are leaning towards sunflower cultivation. Lands of many farmers used to remain uncultivated over four months. Now, farmers are going to see the face of light by cultivating sunflower. Sunflower is a lucrative crop as a cash crop. The farmers of this district did not know how to cultivate this specific crop but with the help of officials of the agriculture department in the district, they are getting used to cultivate this crop.
According to the agriculture department, some of the salt tolerant crops are sunflower. However, farmers in the region were not interested in cultivating the sunflower even a year ago. At present, sunflower fields are now visible in outlying villages.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension office, a total of 335 hectares of land were brought under sunflower cultivation in the 13 upazilas this year with a production target of over 402 metric tons of crop.
Abbas Ali, a farmer in Jauwar village of Tarail upazila said that, this season, he cultivated sunflower on two bighas of land. Earlier in the year, the crop was cultivated on a large area of land and the production cost was increased by about 15000 Tk.
Farmer Mujibur Rahman said sunflower yields have been very good in the area. With the irrigation, fertilizers and pesticide spray on the land, the cost of cultivating the crop in two bighas of land so far is Tk 15,000. If there is no natural catastrophe, the sunflower production of the two bighas could benefit him from Taka 32,000 to 34,000, he said.
Kishoreganj Agriculture Extension Department Deputy Director Saiful Alam said, sunflower is far more profitable than paddy and vegetable cultivation. By cultivating these flowers on the surrounding land, including the courtyard of the house, it is possible to overcome the shortage of oil and fuelwood by alleviating the shortage of the family's consumables.