With favourable weather and no natural disasters, drumstick (sajna) has yielded well in Meherpur. In every village of the district, beside houses, on fallow land and along roads, the branches of drumstick trees are bending under the weight of the pods. Commercial cultivation of the vegetable has not yet begun in the district, however.

Drumstick is a vegetable with many virtues. Because market demand is high, owners have started looking after trees that grew up on their own. When the first pods reach the market they sell for Tk 400-500 a kg, out of reach of ordinary buyers, but the price falls once fully grown pods arrive. They are now selling at Tk 70-80 a kg. Growers spend nothing to produce drumstick, so whatever they harvest is profit.

The agriculture department has no exact figure for how many hectares of drumstick trees there are in the district. Some years ago, 10,000 drumstick seedlings were distributed in the district under the Mujibnagar Agricultural Development Project, an initiative of the district agriculture department; the project later closed. Because growers profited from those trees, the department distributed about 40,000 more drumstick cuttings and seedlings last year to encourage cultivation. Almost every household has also planted drumstick trees on its own. On that basis, the department estimates there are over a lakh drumstick trees in the district. Each tree yields 15-20 kg of pods on average.

Khairul Haque, a grower from Amjhupi village in Sadar upazila, said: "No farmer grows drumstick commercially in the field. Everyone plants drumstick trees around the house. Planting them costs nothing. Each season you can sell Tk 2,000 worth of pods. With the amount on my trees this year, I will be able to sell Tk 5,000-7,000 worth."

Masudur Rahman, a farmer from Baut village in Gangni upazila, said: "This year the trees have borne pods in clusters. Some trees have no leaves but are full of pods. I planted a few trees beside the house for my own family's needs, but they give enough to meet our needs and still sell some."

Ruhul Amin, a farmer from the same village, said: "Drumstick is a tree that grows just by planting a cutting. For care, you only give it a few buckets of water for a few days after planting and it takes root. Its main enemy is storms, but it is no problem if a storm breaks the branches."

Ahsanul Haque and Harunur Rashid, farmers from Gobhipur village in Sadar upazila, said: "With favourable weather, this year's drumstick yield is the highest in several years. Every household has some trees. Because drumstick is in great demand as a nutritious vegetable, we grow it in our yards."

Shankar Kumar Majumder, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Meherpur, said: "Because it fetches a good price as a safe vegetable, more is being grown every day. The agriculture department gives out free seedlings every year to encourage drumstick cultivation. Unlike other crops, drumstick trees usually need no tillage or chemical fertiliser. You just plant a cutting beside the house, on a field ridge or along a road. People have become more interested in eating it."

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