Early potato planting has begun in Fulbari upazila, Dinajpur, on land cleared after the aman and short-duration aus harvests. Hoping for the high prices new potatoes fetch at the start of the season, small farmers are taking the risk, preparing land, applying fertiliser and planting seed from dawn.
The upazila agricultural extension office said the potato target this season is 1,480 hectares, of which 750 hectares are early varieties, with a target of 16,500 tonnes from the early crop. Farmers are planting high-yielding early varieties including Starik and Romana.
Early potatoes need heavy investment up front. Farmers say leasing land, good seed, fertiliser, pesticide and ploughing have pushed production costs up sharply.
Abdul Jabbar of Debipur village in Shibnagar union said that having no land of his own, he leased two bighas for Tk 40,000, on top of seed, fertiliser and labour. He hopes a good harvest will recover the investment and bring a profit.
Source: Dinajpur TV
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