Mustard cultivation is growing steadily in Jashore district. Good yields and better prices than other crops are driving the spread of this rabi crop.

The district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said mustard has been grown on 13,200 hectares in Jashore this season, 5,000 hectares more than last year, when it covered only 8,000 hectares. The agriculture department sees the record expansion in a single year as a positive move by farmers.

Varieties grown this year include BINA Sarisha-4, BINA Sarisha-9, BARI Sarisha-15 and Tori-7, along with various local varieties. Because mustard pays better than rice, farmers are now choosing it. Across wide stretches of the district's eight upazilas, farmers are busy harvesting and bringing the crop home.

Farmers in the district grew mustard in the middle of the Boro season to make up for losses on rice. With favourable weather, they expect a bumper harvest this year.

Babulur Rahman, a farmer from Bakra village in Jhikargachha, said they sowed mustard on the same fields right after the Aman crop this season. Although the weather was risky for mustard this year, there was no serious damage, so the yield is good. The crop is ready to harvest, and he expects 6-7 maunds a bigha.

With mustard selling at Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,000 a maund, he said, it is twice as profitable as rice.

Farmer Rubel Hossain said: "Growing rice, far from making a profit, we could not even recover our production costs. But mustard can make double the profit. It costs next to nothing and takes less time. It needs little irrigation, costs Tk 1,800 to Tk 2,000, and a bigha produces 7-8 maunds."

He added that after harvesting mustard they will grow jute on the same land, so by easily taking three crops a year they are making more profit.

Birendra Nath Majumder, training officer at the Jashore district DAE, said farmers have become interested in mustard over the past few seasons, which is why the area has grown by about 5,000 hectares in a year.

He said: "Mustard is very suitable for raising cropping intensity and soil fertility. Farmers gain financially while their land becomes more fertile. That is why the agriculture department is also encouraging farmers to grow more and more mustard."

Source: Dhaka Tribune. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.