Cauliflower, the money-spinner

700 families at Rautnagar village grow the winter vegetable on 400 acres

14 November 2009, 17:00 PM

Quamrul Islam Rubaiyat, Thakurgaon

Farmers put cauliflowers in a sack to take them to market for sale. The picture was taken from Rautnagar village under Patuakhali district where cultivation of the winter vegetable has become popular as a source of income.Photo: STAR

Cultivation of cauliflower has become so popular as a source of income in Rautnagar that the place is now locally known as 'vegetable village.' Today at least 700 families in the village are engaged in cultivation of cauliflower on 400 acres of land. Deputy director of the Agriculture Extension Department (AED) Thakurgaon Daliluddin said, Ranishankoil upazila alone produces more winter vegetables than any district. Before turning to cauliflower, farmers of Rautnagar used to grow paddy twice a year and often found it difficult to feed the hungry mouths. Asked, farmer Motaleb Hossain said, "Now I earn more money through vegetable cultivation. My son goes to school, my daughter is happy and I can fulfill many desires of my family members". Hossain Ali, 60, an elderly farmer of the village, is a pioneer in cultivation of cauliflower. He learned the process of farming the vegetable when he visited his daughter in Balihara village in neighbouring Haripur upazila. He saw how his son-in-law and some farmers cultivated cauliflower. He immediately decided to grow it in his own village. He visited the 'Bizbhandar' seed shop in Ranishankoil upazila Bazar and the went to the local agriculture office for advice. In the first year, Hossain Ali earned Tk 12,000 and since then his profit increased every year. He now earns around Tk3 lakh from cultivating cauliflower on his 5-bigha land. When the other villagers saw him making profit, they too began to grow it on their land. Sub-assistant officer Diponkar Roy said, the local agriculture department is providing training and other facilities to farmers in the villages. Principal of Khathaldangi Agricul-tural College in Ranishankoil upazila, Saiful Islam said, the farmers could profit more if the storage facilities were improved and if there were no middle men. Farmers sell the cauliflower to traders who transport those to Karwan Bazar, one of the largest wholesale markets in the capital. This winter, around 5,000 acres of land have been brought under cultivation of winter vegetables in the northeastern district of Thakurgaon. The AED aims to expand the area to 15,000 acres within a few years.