Vegetable farming has grown in Jaintiapur, a border upazila of Sylhet, over the past few years. In one union alone, more than 400 farmers have become self-reliant growing vegetables. Only four or five years ago, people in this union worked in the stone quarries, but when the government banned stone extraction they turned to growing vegetables.

More than 400 farmers in 11 villages of the upazila's Nijpat union grew vegetables this year. With a bumper harvest, some have become lakhpatis by selling early vegetables, and some have built brick houses with the money.

On a visit, the fields of the 11 villages of Nijpat union, Rupcheng, Nayagram, Majherbil, Kalinji, Digarail, Horni, Bairakhel, Lakshmiprasad Haor, Lakshmiprasad, Kamrangi and Pakhibil, were full of green vegetables.

Farmers in the villages told Jago News they have had great success with early vegetable varieties. Because early vegetables are in high demand, wholesalers from various parts of the country beyond Sylhet are buying Jaintiapur's vegetables, and prices are good. So farmers here are becoming keen on growing vegetables.

Helal Ahmad, a vegetable farmer in Rupcheng village, told Jago News he had grown yard-long beans on one and a half bigha. Because he planted early, he got a better market than in other years. He will also bring beans (shim) from the same land to market this month, and hopes to earn Tk 1.5-2 lakh from vegetables this year.

Md Joynul Abedin, a farmer in Horni village, said he had grown yard-long beans and other early vegetables on three bigha this year. After farming costs and household spending, he has earned Tk 1.5 lakh from yard-long beans, and will get another Tk 10,000-15,000 from the vegetables still in the field. This money will cover his family's expenses for the rest of the year.

Joynul Abedin said he has also planted beans (shim) on the same land. Barring a natural disaster, he could earn more than another Tk 2 lakh from them, with no separate cost for the beans: he gets two harvests for one outlay.

Though he has farmed for a long time, he has never had government help, he said. With support from the agriculture department he could grow vegetables on five to seven bigha every year.

Shafiq Ali, a farmer in Kalinji village, said he had a good yield of ridge gourd, bitter gourd, bottle gourd and yard-long beans on about four bigha. Prices are good and he can sell from the field: outside wholesalers come with trucks to buy, so he faces no extra trouble.

Local journalist Rezwan Karim Sabbir told Jago News that with the stone quarries closed for a long time, residents of Nijpat union's 11 villages had turned to vegetables, and hundreds have become self-reliant as a result. There are hardly any half-built houses left in these villages; everyone has built a brick house from vegetable farming, he said.

Jaintiapur upazila sub-assistant agriculture officer Md Suheb Ahmad said the upazila agriculture office is providing support, farmer training, subsidised fertiliser, seed and pesticide, and setting up fruit orchards in various wards. Many farmers have already become self-reliant, and gradually all farmers in the upazila will receive government benefits, he said.

Upazila agriculture officer Shamima Akter said: "I have only just taken charge in this upazila. I have heard that farmers here are taking agriculture forward by growing all kinds of vegetables and fruit on a large scale. Through the upazila agriculture department, farmers are being given training, fertiliser, seed, pesticide and other government support. Soon more farmers will come under various government benefits."

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