Farmers in Dinajpur's Phulbari upazila are busy with early varieties of winter vegetables, Ajker Patrika's Phulbari correspondent reports. Fields across the upazila are now full of cauliflower, cabbage, tomato, bean, radish, cucumber, carrot, spinach and yard-long bean, and growers expect better prices than in the main season.

The upazila office of the Department of Agricultural Extension has set a target of 150 hectares of early winter vegetables this year, with production of 3,375 tonnes. Early varieties bring higher profits, the office says, which is why local farmers have turned to them.

A tour of the area on Sunday found farmers weeding, spraying pesticide and irrigating from first light, while some were still transplanting seedlings. Early produce commands higher prices and demand, growers said; the cost of growing a bigha of vegetables is recovered at roughly double from the field, and with favourable weather the crop reaches market quickly.

Rahidul Islam of Bujruk Shamsernagar village in Shibnagar union has planted Tropical Queen cabbage and Master 45 and Captain cauliflower on one and a half bighas, with beans on some more land, at a cost of about Tk 1.2 lakh. He expects a profit of about Tk 3 lakh and says harvesting will begin within 20 to 25 days.

Rahmat Ali of Uttar Krishnapur in the municipal area said he grows vegetables all year but plants cauliflower, cabbage, bean, radish, spinach and coriander among the early winter varieties because every one of them sells well at a good price, giving a comparatively higher profit.

Upazila agriculture officer Saif Abdullah Mostafin said farmers are becoming economically self-reliant through early vegetables and that the department is working to raise production further.

Source: Ajker Patrika — Reporting: Phulbari (Dinajpur) correspondent