Growing ginger in sacks has increased in Kishoreganj. Because it costs little and pays well, farmers are taking it up on the advice of the agriculture department, and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) says it is both profitable and reducing dependence on imports.

Dilwar Hossain of the Danail area in Kishoreganj Sadar upazila has grown ginger in 2,000 sacks on fallow land. Growing ginger in cement and sand sacks filled with the right mix of soil and cow dung costs only Tk 50-55, and he expects each sack to yield 1 to 1.5 kg of ginger. About 1.5 lakh sacks of ginger have been planted in the district this year, with a production target of 150 tonnes.

"Even uncultivated fallow land can be farmed. I have grown ginger this way," Dilwar Hossain said. "Even if water collects in the rains, there is little chance of rot or disease. The agriculture department is giving ordinary farmers like us technical and all other kinds of support to grow ginger this way."

Rabiul Karim, sub-assistant agriculture officer for the Kamaliarchar block of the Sadar upazila, said: "There is hardly any disease in ginger grown in sacks. If needed, an affected plant can be removed and the others will not be infected. Last season there was a shortage of ginger seed; the agriculture department is working to make sure that does not happen this year."

Abul Kalam Azad, deputy director of the DAE in Kishoreganj, said: "Bangladesh needs about two and a half thousand tonnes of ginger every year, against which there is capacity to produce only 50,000 tonnes. The rest has to be imported. If we focus on growing ginger in sacks, dependence on imports will fall."

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