Many farmers in Meherpur are profiting by growing ginger in sacks on fallow land, a method that has recently become popular in the district. It gives a good yield with less space, lower cost and easy care, and is more profitable than conventional cultivation. As a result the country's spice production is increasing and dependence on imports is falling. Low cost, higher profit, less labour and easy care are drawing farmers to the method.

Farmers said they are growing ginger in sacks beside their homes, in their yards or on uncultivated land. Each sack is filled with 7-8 kg of soil mixed with organic fertiliser before the ginger is planted. With water and shade arranged on time, a good yield is easy to get, they said.

Tofazzel Hossain Chanchal, a farmer in Komarpur village of Mujibnagar upazila, said: "This time I have started by growing ginger in 1,700 sacks. The cost is low, the risk is low, and with ginger fetching a good price in the market there will be a decent profit. I will grow more next time, because growing ginger in a sack costs only Tk 60, while each sack yields one and a half to two kilograms."

Raju Ahmed, a farmer in the same village, said: "This year I have started with a few sacks. If it succeeds this year I will grow more next time, because ginger in sacks can be grown on fallow land."

Asked about demand and prices, local trader Abdus Samad said the ginger produced is now selling at a good price in the market, and demand is high.

Mujibnagar upazila sub-assistant agriculture officer Selim Hossain said farmers are being advised to grow ginger in sacks on fallow and uncultivated land, and several farmers in the block have taken it up. Growing ginger in a sack costs farmers only Tk 50 to Tk 60, he said.

Samsul Alam, deputy director (acting) of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Meherpur, said: "Growing ginger in sacks is timely and profitable. It puts uncultivated land to use and can be done on a small scale around the homestead. We are giving farmers training and technical support."

He said: "If such farming initiatives spread, fallow land in the surrounding areas can also be brought under cultivation, making sustainable agricultural development possible. Ginger has been grown in 28,400 sacks in the district this year."

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