Ataur Rahman, a farmer in Sharsha upazila of Jashore, has profited from growing an early summer hybrid bean variety, IPSA-1. Because the district's soil and weather suit early vegetables, yields are doubling, and farmers see hope in growing early beans.

Ataur Rahman lives in Ulashi village of the upazila. He has grown beans on 33 decimals of land in the Ulashi block, and the plants are now full of flowers and pods. He sowed the early bean seed in July, and the plants began to bear 45 days later.

He started picking beans after about 60 days. Seedlings, irrigation, fertiliser, weeding, pesticide and building the trellis cost him Tk 15,000–20,000. He is currently selling beans wholesale at Tk 90–100.

"I can pick 4 maunds of beans from the field every week. I am getting a good price at market. After all costs I will be able to make a profit of about Tk 1 lakh to Tk 1.5 lakh," Ataur Rahman said.

"The Sharsha agriculture office gave me this hybrid bean seed. They say this bean yields more than others, so I grew it, and I have profited a lot. The agriculture office checks on us regularly," he said.

Upazila agriculture officer Dipak Kumar Saha said: "Although beans are a winter vegetable, early (summer) beans are grown in our country. Farmers are now profiting from IPSA-1 hybrid beans, and early beans fetch a good price at market."

"We are giving farmers every kind of support. This bean is sown in the month of Shraban and starts bearing 45 days after sowing. This year early beans were grown on 45 hectares in the upazila, and with favourable weather the yield has been good," he said.

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