With diesel up Tk 20 to Tk 135 a litre, Naogaon farmers reckon irrigation, tillage, threshing and transport will cost Tk 1,500-2,500 more a bigha, and fear losses in the coming Boro season.
At Sohel Rana's 75-bigha Barendra Agro orchard in Sapahar, 1,800 Gourmoti and 1,700 Katimon trees are still carrying fruit that sells at Tk 7,000-8,000 a maund, well after the main season.
With the mainstream mango crop finished in Naogaon, Sohel Rana's Barind Agro in Sapahar has 1,800 Gourmoti and 1,700 Katimon trees in fruit; after selling more than Tk 1 crore of seasonal mango he expects 400 maunds of Gourmoti at Tk 8,000 and 450 maunds of Katimon at Tk 7,000, employing ten local y
At Barind Agro Park in Sapahar, Naogaon, entrepreneur Sohel Rana grows lemongrass commercially, selling fresh and dried leaves and seedlings; agriculture officials say the low-input perennial could become a new cash crop for the dry north-west.
Under the Kharif-2 incentive programme, farmers in the district's 11 upazilas each received 5 kg of seed, 10 kg of DAP and 10 kg of MOP for one bigha; Niamatpur (5,100) and Mohadevpur (5,000) had the most beneficiaries.
Aus paddy has slipped to Tk 700-800 a maund from Tk 1,000-1,050 a year ago; millers blame excess rice imports for weak demand and want government procurement in the Aus season too.
