Farmers in Pabna's Bera upazila have had a good crop of early cucumbers on fallow char land along the Jamuna, Krishi Shomoy's Pabna correspondent reports. About 350 bighas in the Pechakola and Chak Nayanpur mouzas of Haturia-Nakalia union, on the east bank of the river, are under cucumber. The land used to lie fallow under scrub.
Growers say 400 to 500 maunds of cucumbers are picked from the char every day and sell for Tk 700 to 800 a maund. Char farmer Alim Fakir said the plants start bearing within 40 days of sowing. About 200 men and women work in the fields each day on care, fertiliser and pesticide spraying and picking; women are paid Tk 400 a day and men Tk 600.
Farmer Julu Prang set out the costs. Leasing a bigha cost about Tk 5,000 on average. Clearing scrub, seed, fertiliser, pesticide, wages, food and lodging bring the cost to about Tk 60,000 to 70,000 a bigha. He hopes to earn up to Tk 1.5 lakh a bigha from the cucumbers, though the real profit will depend on output and market prices.
Farmer Haji Abusama said at least 400 maunds are picked a day. The cucumbers go by the growers' own boats to the Nakalia and Pechakola ghats, then by truck and trolley to the Chaksa and Charpara wholesale depots at Lahiri Mohanpur in Sirajganj's Ullapara upazila. Traders buy them there and take them to district towns across the country.
Bera upazila agriculture officer Nusrat Kabir said she had not known that farmers from other upazilas had started a cucumber project on Bera's chars, and learned of it from the reporter. The fertile char soil suits cucumbers, she said, and the agriculture office will give the growers every help if they get in touch.
Bringing fallow char land into use for an early vegetable crop gives a quick harvest and work for local people. The report was filed by Krishi Shomoy's Pabna correspondent.
Photo: Stephen Ausmus, USDA ARS / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Krishi Shomoy
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