Farmers in delight as summer bean cultivation continues to reap profits

Beans are typically mass-produced globally, including in Bangladesh, during the winter season for its widely available variants that have a high tolerance to the cold weather.

However, for the last few years, Bangladeshi farmers have been able to rake in good profits cultivating beans during the summer season, with no exception this year.

“Rupbaan,” an early summer variant of the traditional country bean, is a high yielding crop which is also very cost-effective. The crop is being cultivated on vast tracts of land in the southern district of Jhenaidah this season, bringing success to its farmers.

Now, farmers are seen selling their summer beans at a lucrative wholesale price of Tk70-80 per kg, which are then sold in local markets at Tk100-120 per kg, as it is currently high in demand.  

According to the Kaliganj Upazila Agriculture Office, more than 200 farmers have planted the summer bean variant “Rupbaan” on 20 hectares of land, with most of it in Barbazar and Kastabhanga union of the upazila.

On a recent visit, this correspondent saw farmers working hard on vast tracts of green bean fields all across the Kaliganj upazila.

Rakibul Islam, a farmer from Mashlia village, said he had planted Rupbaan beans on a 1.5 bigha land this season. Including fertilizer, irrigation, pesticides, bamboo fences and maintenance, he spent a total of Tk25,000 on bean cultivation. “I have already sold beans worth Tk5,000 in two phases. This particular variant of beans can be harvested over a period of six months which should bring me at least Tk50,000-60,000 this season.”

Meanwhile, Abdul Mannan of Kastabhanga village, Bahar Ali of the same village, Kamrul Islam of Nityanandi village, and Jahangir Hossain of the same village have all planted the same early summer bean variant on lands stretching between 1.5-2 bigha.

Similarly, farmers from several other villages of the upazila have planted beans on their lands, and they have already picked beans from the fields and sold them in the local market in several phases. 

Ali Hossain, deputy assistant agriculture officer at Kaliganj Upazila Agriculture Office, said: “Early summer bean plantation saw an increase this season, especially in Barbazar and Kastabhanga unions of the upazila. Hundreds of farmers in the area have cultivated the ‘Rupbaan’ variant. These farmers were given fertilizers and seeds. Besides, they are also being given advice on the overall cultivation process.”