On about two acres and five decimals west of Khansama ghat, on the border of Birganj and Khansama upazilas in Dinajpur, Md Aminul Islam, owner of Village Agro Nursery and Cattle Farm, has planted Sagar bananas and filled the gaps between the rows with Ratna cauliflower as a companion crop.
Bananas take a long time to mature, Aminul said, so rather than leave the ground idle he added short-season cauliflower, hoping for two crops and extra income from the same land. So far both the bananas and the cauliflower seedlings are in good condition.
He complains, though, that the agriculture office has given him no advice or help and that he cannot get the fertiliser he needs on time, leaving him unsure whether he will recover his costs.
Khansama upazila agriculture officer Yasmin Akter said she was the first to encourage this banana-cauliflower intercropping in the area, and that because bananas take about a year, a cauliflower companion crop raises farmers' income substantially. She said the farmer had not contacted her office directly, but an assistant officer would now be sent to inspect the field and advise on fertiliser and pest management.
The report is from a Dinajpur TV staff correspondent.
Photo: The Roving Rokibul / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Dinajpur TV
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