Rajshahi to produce 21,000-tonne summer chilli

Around 21,000 tonnes of summer green chilli are expected to be produced from 9,390 hectares of land in all eight districts under the division during the current Kharif-1 cropping season.

The target has been set to produce around 9,782 tonnes of chilli from 3,930 hectares of land in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon and Natore districts under the Rajshahi Agricultural Zone.

Another 12,000 tonnes are expected to be yielded from 5,460 hectares of land in Bogura, Joypurhat, Pabna and Sirajganj districts under Bogura Agricultural Zone this season.

Azizul Islam, 53, a farmer of Patharghata village under Mohanpur upazila, said he had cultivated green chilli on 20-katha land this season.

He has sold a total of 115 kilograms of chilli at the rate of Tk 185 per kg on average. He is happy after getting a fair price.

Abdus Samad, another farmer of Nuriakhetra village in Mohanpur upazila said he had cultivated green chilli on one bigha of land last year and got good yield and price.

This time, he cultivated the spicy cash crop on two bighas of land and sold chilli with good profit over the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, Kharkhori Green Chilli Market under Paba upazila in Rajshahi district has been bustling with a bountiful amount of summer chilli and farmers and traders for the last couple of weeks.

The trading spree is growing up gradually with an increasing number of buyers and sellers. After buying from the haat, the chilli is sent to different parts of the country.

Growers from the surrounding upazilas bring their chilli to the market and sell at wholesale rates.

Rawshan Ali, president of the market committee, said about 30 metric tons of green chilli are sold in this market daily. The wholesalers send eight to ten trucks loaded with chilli to different parts of the country including Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet every day.

A wholesaler of the haat said he buys 3,000 kg of chilli every day and sends those to Chattogram.

Shamsul Wadud, Additional Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said the region has been producing chilli along with other vegetables around the year enormously for the last couple of years.

Presently, the local kitchen markets and other growth centres have been overwhelmed with the newly harvested chilli and other summer vegetables.

Shamsul Wadud said farmers are also happy after getting both good yield and market price of the summer chilli everywhere in the region including its vast Barind tract during the last couple of weeks.

Locals said the price of green chilli nearly doubled in the city’s kitchen markets over the past couple of weeks. The price of green chilli rose by Tk 220-250 a kilogram and the item was sold at Tk 280-300 per kg in retail markets at present.

Traders said that the price of green chilli witnessed a sharp rise due to various reasons.

Meanwhile, the DAE has set a target of producing around 9.15 lakh tonnes of summer vegetables from 49,895 hectares of land in the division during the current Kharif-1 season.

The entire kitchen markets in the region are currently bustling with all summer vegetables like red amaranth, bottle gourd, spinach, lady’s finger, pointed gourd, bitter gourd, pumpkin and brinjal benefiting both growers and consumers.

Vegetable farming brings a smile on farmers’ faces here as they are becoming financially solvent by cultivating various types of vegetables, meeting the growing demand of the consumers.