Water chestnut (panifal) farming is growing day by day in Sherpur. Because it can be grown on waterlogged and fallow land, farmers are making good profits in a short time at low cost, and more of them are taking it up, some commercially.

Growers say the plant starts bearing at about three months and keeps yielding for another three. Over the six months it costs Tk 10,000-12,000 a bigha, and about Tk 50,000 worth of fruit can be sold. It can also be grown in ditches, closed water bodies or fish enclosures. The fruit is red when young and turns green, then black when ripe.

Water chestnut is grown commercially in villages of Bamoner Char beel, Ramkrishnapur, Isli beel and Rouha beel in Sherpur Sadar; Kharia Kazir Char, Boisha beel, Kakilakura, Bhayadanga, Bokchar, Bararchar and Garjaripa in Sreebardi; Dhali beel and Kalinagar in Jhenaigati; Rajnagar and Nama Baradubi in Nalitabari; and Pathakata, Char Ashtadhar, Chandrakona, Urfa, Ganapaddi and Baneshwardi unions in Nakla upazila. It is grown most in Koiyakuri, Palashkandi, Dashkahonia and Nama Koiyakuri in Pathakata union.

Growers say the more water there is, the better the yield. Sadagar Mia, a grower in Char Sherpur, said: "Here, land whose soil has been sold to brickfields cannot be cultivated, and it is not suitable for fish either. I grew water chestnut on that land and made a good profit."

Sultan Ahmed, a grower in Rajnagar, Nalitabari, told Jago News: "I have been growing water chestnut for several years. There is almost no cost at all."

Salam Mia of Nama Koiyakuri village in Nakla upazila said: "I grew water chestnut in my fish enclosure. I have started selling wholesale at Tk 30 a kg. Last year I made a profit of Tk 40,000 on 5 kathas of land."

Sharafat Ali sells water chestnut from a van at Sherpur's New Market. "I sell it at Tk 50 to 60 a kg. I sell about one maund a day in all," he told Jago News.

Agriculturist Mohammad Sakhawat Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Sherpur, told Jago News: "Water chestnut is a short-duration cash crop. It suffers few pest attacks, so it is safe because it is free of chemical fertiliser and pesticide."

"Small farmers can profit by growing water chestnut on waterlogged land where aman paddy or other crops are not possible. However, there is no specific data on how much has been grown. Next season farmers will be given various kinds of advice to encourage them," he said.

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