Mirsharai in Chattogram has had a bumper okra crop this year. The high-yielding and local varieties are sold at local markets and in Sitakunda and other parts of Chattogram. Farmers are happy with early-season prices. Because okra has proved more profitable than aus paddy, its cultivation has grown, and interest among farmers is rising.

Okra is now a cash crop for farmers. Though a seasonal vegetable, it is grown all year. It suffers fewer pest attacks than other vegetables, and labour and fertiliser costs are relatively low. Women in the household can easily pick it, saving on labour, so farmers need not worry about selling it. A maund (40kg) sells for Tk 1,000–1,200, or Tk 25–30 a kg. A tonne of okra is worth Tk 30,000 at market, putting the value of 875 tonnes at about Tk 2 crore 62 lakh 50 thousand.

According to the upazila agriculture office, okra has been grown on about 35 hectares in Mirsharai this year, mostly in Mirsharai Sadar, Moghadia, Saherkhali and Khaiyachhara unions. If okra plants are cut through the middle and given fertiliser and pesticide, they produce again.

Farmer Md Kalim Hossain said: "I grew okra on about 25 decimals. Besides the village markets in the upazila, I sell in Sitakunda, Baradarogarhat and Chattogram city. A maund sells for Tk 1,000–1,200."

He added: "The upazila agriculture office gave us no help. We are farming on our own. If we got any help from the agriculture office, we could grow more." Another okra farmer, Abdul Mannan, said: "I grew okra on about 32 decimals and have sold more than Tk 3 lakh worth so far. Forget help from the agriculture office, they have not even asked after us once."

Nurul Huda, a farmer in South Moghadia Ghona, said: "I grew okra on 60 decimals this year. I grow it every year and have been doing so for about 20 years. I am getting fairly good prices again. With the money from okra I bought some land beside my house and sent a son abroad."

Upazila agriculture officer Pratap Chandra Roy said: "Okra has been grown on about 35 hectares in the upazila and there has been a bumper yield. A hectare produces 25 tonnes. No one is given a government incentive for growing okra."

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