Gaibandha, in the north, depends on agriculture, and its fertile soil grows various crops all year round. Now a farmer couple have opened a new door in farming: instead of rice and other traditional crops, they have grown the foreign vegetable beetroot commercially for the first time in the district.

The beetroot plant looks much like spinach but differs in colour, with green and reddish leaves. The root below is deep pink or reddish purple. The vegetable, rich in nutrients and medicinal qualities, is also called a superfood. It grows most in winter but is available all year, and prices stay good year round. Faruquzzaman Faruk and Mahfuza Begum of Suparir Bhita village in Laxmipur union, Gaibandha Sadar upazila, have caused a stir by growing it on 20 decimals of land.

The couple said they had long grown rice, jute and other traditional crops without making much profit from any of them. But they are happy that beetroot has brought more profit than other crops within three months.

Mahfuza Begum told Jagonews: "Our sons agreed, but my husband wasn't willing to grow an unfamiliar vegetable. After watching videos on his mobile and consulting various people, he eventually agreed. The crop has done well, and many people want to grow beetroot after seeing ours."

Faruquzzaman Faruk told Jagonews: "I grew beetroot on 20 decimals. There are now about 1,000 kg of beetroot in the field. I'm selling at a minimum of Tk 150 and up to nearly Tk 200. I hope to make a profit of more than a lakh taka."

Encouraged by the couple's success, Mehedi Hasan Nayan, a young man from neighbouring Beradanga village, has grown beetroot in his yard to begin with and says he plans to grow it on a larger scale. He told Jagonews: "I see good demand for this vegetable, and prices stay good all year. There's no chance of a loss."

The agriculture department says Gaibandha's loam and sandy loam soils are suitable for beetroot, which yields in just three months, and that there is great potential for beetroot farming in the region. Md Khorshed Alam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Gaibandha, said: "The agriculture department is giving the farmer couple regular advice and support. If it can be produced on a large scale, it will be possible to meet the country's demand and earn foreign currency through exports."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.