Farmers in Gaibandha have turned to potatoes this year. Potato fields stretch as far as the eye can see and farmers are busy tending them. A bumper crop is expected if the weather stays favourable, and farmers are also hopeful of getting the prices they want for the new potatoes.

The Gaibandha office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said the target for this year is 10,550 hectares of potatoes. So far 8,260 hectares have been planted: 7,510 hectares of high-yielding (HYV) varieties and 750 hectares of local varieties. The production target has been set at 19.81 metric tonnes, as the department gives it. The agriculture department expects the area target to be exceeded within the next month.

Sadek Ali, 60, a farmer in Islampur village of Dhaperhat union in Sadullapur upazila, grew potatoes on 4 bighas last year. This year he has added 2 bighas and planted 6. The crop is looking good.

He is hopeful of a good price. "I'm growing the crop with great care. A lot of money has been spent. The price should be good this time too, and I'm hoping for a good profit," he said.

Basanta Biswas, 62, of the same village, will grow potatoes on 12 bighas this year and has already planted five and a half. High-yielding varieties give four to four and a half maunds per decimal, he said, and local varieties two and a half to three maunds.

"If I get a good market for potatoes, I'll make a good profit," he told Jagonews. "Everything costs more, but even so we hope to get a good price for potatoes this time. In that hope we've given up everything else and turned to potatoes."

Rabiul Islam, a farmer in East Faridpur village of Faridpur union in Sadullapur, said: "Almost everyone in our area grows potatoes. The yield is good and we get a good price. Potatoes from here go to districts across the country. The crop will be good, but how much profit we make will depend on the price."

Majnu Mia, a farmer in Katihara village of Ghagoa union in Sadar upazila, said: "Growing potatoes doesn't take long. We plant them after the Aman and in the middle of the Iri season. After lifting these potatoes I'll plant Iri rice again. Potatoes yield very well, which is why we grow them. I hope the crop will be good this time and that we'll get a good price."

Belal Uddin, deputy director of the DAE in Gaibandha, told Jagonews that more potatoes will be grown than last year and the target will be exceeded. The agriculture office is advising farmers regularly and showing them how to prevent rot and pest attacks, he said. "If the weather stays favourable, there will be a bumper potato crop this year."

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