After years of losses on potatoes, farmers in Munshiganj, the country's largest potato area, are being forced to turn to bottle gourd. Hundreds of bighas of gourd trellises have changed the look of the fields this season.
A method seen on television
Planting gourd seedlings on floating beds in waterlogged land after the monsoon was a method of the south. Farmer Hakim Dewan brought it to Bajrajogini union in Munshiganj after seeing it on television. The floating beds have now become bigha after bigha of gourd trellises, and ochre fields once planted with potatoes in Agrahayan have turned fresh green.
Three times the profit
Having lost money year after year, potato farmers have stopped, and following Hakim Dewan, they have invested in bottle gourd, which has spread to 200 hectares across the district this year. Gourds sell for 30 to 35 taka each from the field, and many farmers are counting hundreds of thousands of taka in one season. The agriculture department says gourd brings three times the profit of potatoes.
Farmers say they are ready to adopt any new technology or method if they see a chance of profit.
Source: Shykh Seraj, Hridoye Mati O Manush. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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