Purple cabbage is being grown in Thakurgaon this year. The vegetable needs little care, has few diseases and can be grown with little irrigation. It is being grown for the first time in various upazilas of the district.

Tonmoy Roy of South Thakurgaon in Sadar upazila said it is very easy to grow. Purple cabbage suffers very little rot, so it needs less fertiliser and pesticide. Being a new variety, demand is good; it sells as soon as it reaches the market, and the price is good too.

Alamgir of Jowgaon in Ranisankail upazila said: "It tastes better than green cabbage and looks beautiful too, so it sells straight from the field. We grew it for the first time and got quite a good price."

Ainul Haque of Rautnagar said he grew red cabbage wanting to do something different on his land. Because it tastes somewhat sweet, demand is higher. He has already started selling, made a good profit on a small outlay, and will grow it on more land in future.

Md Ekramul Karim, sub-assistant agriculture officer of the Hosengaon block in Ranisankail upazila, said: "Along with green vegetables, coloured vegetables are now being grown more. This cabbage is rich in vitamins C and K, has almost no fat and is effective in preventing cancer. We are advising farmers on growing it."

Sirajul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Thakurgaon, told Jago News: "Under the Dinajpur Region Sustainable Agricultural Development Project, coloured cabbage has been grown in the upazila for the first time, and farmers have succeeded at the first attempt. This year the new vegetable was grown on 1 acre in Ranisankail upazila."

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