Expanded cultivation of vegetables on farmlands and homesteads round the year has brought fortune to thousands of farmers and common people in Rangpur agriculture region in recent years.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and NGOs said vegetable farming has become a profitable venture inspiring farmers in cultivating vegetables on more lands adopting newer cropping patterns and latest technologies.
Additional Director of the DAE's Rangpur region Agriculturist Bidhu Bhusan Ray said many farmers and common people including women have already changed fortune through farming both summer and winter vegetables across the region.
Alongside huge government assistance and easy-term agri-loans, many NGOs are supplying quality seeds, inputs and technological assistance to farmers to further increase vegetable production during Rabi, Kharif-1 and Kharif-2 seasons round the year.
"After getting repeated bumper production and lucrative market prices every year, farmers are bringing more lands under vegetable farming in the region," he said.
During the last Rabi season, farmers produced 9,30,870 tonnes of winter vegetables from 39,895 hectares of land against the fixed production target of producing 9,48,360 tonnes of winter vegetables from 38,350 hectares of land in the region.
"Similarly, farmers have brought 26,365 hectares of land, 4,335 hectares more than the fixed production target of 4,07,101 tonnes of summer vegetables from 22,030 hectares of land during this Kharif-1 season in the region," Ray said.
Farmers have already harvested vegetables on 25,355 hectares of land and produced 4,74,328 tonnes of vegetables during the Kharif-1 season, exceeding the production target by 67,227 tonnes by Thursday in the region where harvest of the crop continues.
Besides, farmers have cultivated vegetables on 13,895 hectares of land during the current Kharip-2 season in the region where they brought 11,095 hectares of land under vegetable farming during the Kharif-2 season last year.
"Farmers are expecting to achieve super bumper productions of vegetables during this Kharif-1 and Kharif-2 seasons in Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari districts of the region," Ray added.
Senior Coordinator (Agriculture and Environment) of RDRS Bangladesh Agriculturist Mamunur Rashid said consumers are getting varieties of vegetables in local markets as farmers cultivating those in all seasons round the year and getting excellent prices.
"Many farmers and commoners are now preparing to cultivate early varieties of vegetables to harvest those during the 'lean period' of 'Aswin' and 'Kartik' months to earn more profits," he said.
Farmers Azizul Islam, Abdul Karim, Altaf Hossain and Sekendar Ali of different villages in Mithapukur upazila in Rangpur said they have achieved self-reliance by cultivating vegetables on their farm-lands and homesteads.
Vegetables' trader Hafizur Rahman at Rangpur City Market said huge quantities of vegetables are being exported from Rangpur region to Dhaka and other places in all seasons also creating jobs for the day-and farm- labourers.
President of Rangpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mostafa Sohrab Chowdhury Titu said that there is a brighter prospect of expanding
vegetable cultivation further in Rangpur region.
He stressed on setting up of agro-based industries in the region for processing the produced vegetables and taking more steps to enhance export of the agro-products to further benefit farmers and strengthen the national economy.
