Home ›› 01 Jun 2023 ›› Nation
Farmers of Cumilla’s Burichang upazila are leaning towards sweet potato cultivation because it is profitable.
This year sweet potato has been cultivated on 40 hectares of land in the upazila. Sweet potato cultivation has become popular in the area in recent years.
Farmer Md Iqbal Hossain of Ebdarpur village of the upazila is cultivating sweet potatoes on 6 bighas of land this season.
“I am cultivating local varieties with a production cost of Tk 20,000 per bigha. I got about 11 maunds of harvest per bigha which sold for about Tk 60,000,” Iqbal said, adding that he made a profit of Tk two lakh this year.
Other farmers like Md Jahangir Miah, Md Sirajul Islam, Mokhlesur Rahman, Jharna Begum, Manu Miah, Md Mostafa, Haji Khalek of that area have made hefty profits from sweet potato cultivation.
According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), this year sweet potato has been cultivated on 981 hectares of land in Cumilla. The yield is 18,659 tonnes in total with 19.2 tonnes per hectare.
Sweet potato has been cultivated more or less in all upazilas of the district but Daudkandi, Burichang, Brahmanpara, Adarsha Sadar, Sadar South, Titas, Homna are most notable.
Farmers of Burichong upazila are currently busy harvesting sweet potatoes with the help of their family members.
Anu Mia, a farmer in Shikarpur area of the upazila, said that he has been cultivating various crops on his land for about 12 years. Like other years, he has grown sweet potatoes this year too. “This year we are cultivating potatoes in 10 decimals of land. The yield of potatoes has also been very good. I hope I can sell more potatoes this time,” he added.
Sultana Yasmin, the assistant agricultural officer of Rampur block of Burichang upazila, sweet potato has been cultivated on 12 hectares of land in Ebdarpur village by 37 farmers. Each harvested potato weighs about 800 grams to one kg.
Cumilla DAE Deputy Director Mizanur Rahman said the district’s soil is very suitable for sweet potato cultivation. Nowadays, the multidimensional use of sweet potatoes has increased.
