Rot has broken out in early-season winter cauliflower in Baliakandi, Rajbari. Infected plants and heads are being lost, and many farmers say the sprays they bought at the local market have not stopped it.
The upazila agriculture office says early winter vegetables are growing on about 300 hectares this year, about 200 of them early cauliflower. In fields of Jamalpur and Baharpur unions on Tuesday (6 October), round brown spots could be seen forming on the curds and then spreading over the whole head, with the leaves also rotting. Many farmers are pulling out infected plants.
Md Rezwan Molla of Guptalakshmandia village grew early cauliflower on 20 decimals; rot set in just as the heads were ready to sell, and about 70 percent of his plants are already lost. Farmer Brajen Biswas said he bought fertiliser and pesticide at high prices; rot began on the leaves 20 to 30 days after planting, spread to the heads and destroyed them within two or three days.
Nodiar Chand Biswas said the rot has been showing up across the upazila for about 15 days. Farmers complain that too little field advice from the agriculture department, and adulterated or poor-quality pesticides, have added to their losses.
Baliakandi upazila agriculture officer Ratan Kumar Ghosh said the department knows about the rot in early cauliflower and is giving farmers the advice they need to control it. Farmers with infected fields now fear they will not recover their costs. Agricare24 published the report from Bangladesh Pratidin.
Photo: NahidSultan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Agricare24
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