Farmers in Jamalpur are delighted with the bumper cultivation of tomato, mustard, wheat, maize, raw pepper, cauliflower, cabbage, eggplant and bean despite the intense cold wave.
However, they were also worried about the delay in cultivation of Iri, Boro and potato.
The old Brahmaputra river basin of Sadar upazila, Nandina, Melandah, Islampur, Dewanganj, Madarganjand Sarisabari upazilas are used as farmbeds for cultivating tomatoes, mustard, wheat, maize, raw fruits, peas, pomegranate, and black pepper.
They are cultivated and taken to Nandina Bazar and Maheshpur Kalibari Bazar, NarundiBazar, HajipurBazar, DigpayatBazar andAramanagarBazar of Sarisabariupazila, ShimlaBazar andBausiBazar ofIslampurcharupazila, Gazipurbazar of Melandah upazila, Durmutbazar and Mahmud bazar ofMadarganj upazila to be sold for both retail and wholesale.
Buyers from different parts of the country come to these markets and purchase them as per their demand.
Farmers are happy getting fair prices for tomato, raw peppers, eggplant, cauliflower, cucumber and bean, as they are in high demand now.
They added that if they get good yields and good prices like this every season, their fortunes would change quickly.
AmjadMiah, AlfazUddin and Sultan Miah, farmers of Tulshir Char village of Jamalpur Sadar upazila, said the intense and frequent cold waves have resulted in bumper wheat, maize and vegetable cultivation this season.
They also said that this season, cauliflower and banana were sold for Tk8-15 per kilogram initially, but it rose to Tk30-40 a few days ago.
Chilliwas sold last month at Tk10-15 per kg, but it sold on Sunday for Tk30-40 per kg, while eggplant prices rose from Tk8-12 per kg to Tk30-40 per kg.
But they also feared a delay in Boro cultivation this season, thanks to the same cold wave. They said the dew density in croplands were also to blame, which also affected Iri and potato harvesting.
Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) of Jamalpur Md Aminul Islam said that due to the severe winter this season, the cultivation of different crops including paddy, wheat and maize has been very good. But this time, there was some delay in the cultivation of Bore rice as well.
"This time, the cost of production of round potatoes would be higher," he said.
