Monjurul Ahsan of Sharsha upazila in Jashore has succeeded in growing yellow and purple cauliflowers. The colourful crop has created a stir locally, and buyers crowd in every day to see and buy it.

The young farmer lives in Shikarpur village of Lakshmanpur union. With the full support of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Sharsha, and inspired by its officials, he planted 1,000 plants for the first time. The two varieties have attractive names: the pink cauliflower, as the report describes it here, is called 'Valentina', and the yellow one 'Carotina'.

"When I planted these cauliflowers, other farmers in the area asked whether I would be able to sell them. I was confident I could sell them in the market. With that hope I grew them and got a good response. Buyers come to the field every day. Growing this cauliflower takes little effort, so I did it myself, and my costs were low too," Monjurul Ahsan said.

On how to grow the two varieties, he said: "Valentina and Carotina need the same care as ordinary cauliflower. This time it was a trial, but I intend to grow more in future."

The upazila agriculture office says the two coloured varieties are more nutritious than white cauliflower, look attractive and fetch a higher market price than the usual white kind.

Upazila agriculture officer Dipak Kumar Saha said: "Growing colourful cauliflower for the first time in Sharsha, farmers have had a good yield, and it has created interest among other farmers. Where ordinary cauliflower sells for Tk 20–30, this sells for Tk 60–70."

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