Cauliflowers of various colours have been grown in Sitakunda, Chattogram, for the second time. Coloured cauliflowers take a little less time to grow than white ones, so farmers' interest in them is growing day by day.

The coloured cauliflowers have been grown in the Fouzdarhat area of Salimpur union in Sitakunda with financial support from the Department of Agricultural Extension's (DAE) Programme on Agricultural and Rural Transformation for Nutrition, Entrepreneurship and Resilience (PARTNER) project.

They have also been grown in Nunachhara, Teriail, Fultala and other unions of the upazila. The upazila agriculture office said cauliflower has been grown on a total of 95 hectares in the current fiscal year.

Last year 1,200 coloured cauliflowers were grown in Sitakunda; this year the number has risen tenfold to 12,000. Fifteen farmers grew coloured cauliflower last year, and 45 have done so this year.

Coloured cauliflower farming began in Bangladesh in 2021. At Bangladesh Agro Composite Industries Limited, set up on one acre in Jamalpur, vegetable seedlings are raised without soil in a coco-based growing medium. The company brought some coloured cauliflower seeds from India for trial cultivation, and about 2,000 seedlings were raised there in the rabi season.

Md Jahangir Alam, a farmer in Fouzdarhat, said: "Last year I grew a small amount of coloured cauliflower and earned well. This year, with the help of the agriculture office, I have grown 2,000 coloured cauliflowers. I hope each one will sell for Tk 100. I always get advice and other support from the upazila agriculture office."

Suparna Barua, sub-assistant agriculture officer in Sitakunda upazila, said: "Coloured cauliflower suffers less from disease. Insects on this cauliflower can be controlled by organic means. Farmers do not have to use extra pesticide."

Sitakunda upazila agriculture officer Md Habibullah said: "The only difference between coloured and white cauliflower is the seed. Everything else in the growing method is the same. But the market price of coloured cauliflower is Tk 20-25 higher than that of white cauliflower."

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