Summer beans make Barind farmers happy in 25 upazilas

BSS, Rajshahi :
Like the previous years, grassroots farmers have become happy over expected yield and market price of summer beans as its harvesting has started in the region including its vast Barind tract this season.
Many of the farmers have changed their fate after the summer beans farming during the last couple of years. A silent revolution has been happened in summer beans farming in different areas of the Barind tract particularly Godagari Upazila.
The plants were covered with massive green leaves predicting a bumper production. At present, harvested beans has started appearing in the local markets in limited scale.
According to the officials of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE),last year some 12 farmers were imparted necessary training. They obtained a significant success after farming the vegetable on 10 bigha of land for the first time. Witnessing the success over 100 farmers received training this season.
Only in Godagari Upazila, the farmers cultivated summer beans on around 130 hectares. Last year, the DAE supplied two hybrid varieties seed-Ghritakanchan and Rupbhan- among the interested farmers.
Ariful Islam, a farmer of Sorail village, had cultivated beans on 10 katha of low-lying land and harvested crops valued at Taka 34,000. He spent Taka 17,000 for the farming purposes.
Meanwhile, beans cultivation has become an effective means of bringing fortune for many farmers in the vast Barind tract comprising 25 upazilas of Rajshahi, Chapainawabgonj and Naogaon districts in both summer and winter seasons.
Large numbers of farmers are now engaged in bean cultivation commercially in the recent times considering its economic prospect and as it proved highly profitable changing the lives of many people in the region.
While visiting some farming areas of the region like Huzripara, Chowbaria,Darusha, Rajabari, Haripur and Pakira recently this reporter found farmers working in their bean-field with much enthusiasm.
The farmers are also becoming habituated in cultivating beans in the land demarcation lands of paddy cultivation fields as they are earning extra benefits from the same land.
The DAE officials said the farmers’ cultivated early variety beans on around 500 hectares land in the barind in the current paddy season. Two varieties-Rupban and Ghritakanchon- are very much popular among the farmers as those are high yielding.
DAE impart training to the farmers on beans farming and supply seed free of cost to encourage more other farmers towards the beans farming.
Ahad Ali, a farmer of Kantapasha village under Godagari Upazila of Rajshahi, said that he cultivated beans on six bighas of land this year. It was only one bigha a few years ago. “After obtaining my master’s degree, I joined a school. At the same time, I started bean cultivation as it is very profitable.”
He informed that bean farming on a bigha of land costs Taka 12,000 to 14,000. If there is no natural calamity, a farmer can get 80 to 100 maunds of bean from the land in a season. One can easily earn a profit of Taka 15,000 to 20,000 from per bigha.
According the farmers, four to five thousand Taka is required to cultivate bean on one bigha of land. Sowing of bean seeds begins at the end of Bangla month of Ashar, but the full season begins from Kartik.
At the beginning of both the seasons, beans are seen sold at exorbitant prices. Gradually the prices come down with huge supply making the buyers happy and the farmers unhappy. Local farmers and traders have demanded that the government should build a cold storage in the area so that they can preserve their agricultural products.