Over 50 farmers in Gopalganj district have made good profits this year by organically farming bottle gourd.
The districts’ Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) provided loans and training to the farmers, leading to a much higher yield than the farmers had expected.
The use of high-yield varieties of the plant, modern mulching and cutting methods, and using coco dust as fertilizer made bottle gourd cultivation much cheaper for the farmers.
According to the DAE office, at least 50 farmers of 5 upazilas of the district received loans and training under the National Agricultural Technology Program (NATP) to cultivate bottle gourds amid the devastating floods this year.
A field of bottle gourd at Chargobra village in Gopalganj’s Sadar upazila | Dhaka Tribune
One such farmer, Ayub Ali from Sadar’s Chargobra village, said he cultivated the vegetable on 52% of his land and got thrice the usual yield.
He said: “I applied coco dust as fertilizer in addition to cutting and mulching the plants according to the DAE’s suggestion and it proved beneficial. I have invested Tk20,000 and earned Tk80,000 in profit till date, and I expect to make Tk50,000 more by the end of the season.
He also said he got his bottle gourds in a mere 38 days time, which is unlikely in the traditional way of farming.
Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer Parvati Bairagi pointed out that 50 other farmers like Ayub Ali used the DAE’s method and got good yields of nutritious products.
“It was difficult to believe that the farmers would be able to cultivate the bottle gourds amid the disastrous flood and the deadly pandemic, but they made it possible,” said Md Sekandar, agricultural officer of Sadar upazila of Gopalganj.
“More and more farmers of the area are becoming interested in cultivating organic vegetables. We soon will be able provide necessary support to these farmers,” added the officer.
Dr Arabinda Kumar Roy, deputy director of the DAE in Gopalganj, said: “Farmers from all around the country, not only Gopalnganj, should cultivate in this manner so that the whole country can reap the benefits.”
