Small vans, trolleys, lachimans - they bring bananas to the market in any way they can. Bananas are arranged all over the hut. Fariya moneylenders are coming from far away to buy those bananas. Will go from the divisional city to different parts of the country. There is no end to the busyness of eager farmers. The work of cutting bananas and arranging them in cars has been going on since morning. Bananas and bananas as far as the eye can see. There are rows of banana trucks standing next to it. Bananas are bought and sold 5 days a week except Friday and Saturday. Such a picture can be seen at Nazirpur Hat in Gurdaspur Upazila of Natore. In Gurdaspur, Baraigram and Singra upazilas of Natore, farmers are leaning towards banana cultivation due to low cost and high profit. Many farmers have returned to banana cultivation. Bumper yields of bananas along with fair prices have put smiles on the faces of farmers in the region. The labor and cost of banana cultivation is very low as compared to other crops. Due to the cultivation of bananas using organic fertilizers, there is a huge demand for these bananas in the local market, said the sellers.
Md Sarwar Hossain, banana farmer of Bablatla village of Biaghat union of the upazila said, besides fish, we have cultivated bananas on the banks of the pond. While the profit in fish is less, there is a lot of profit in bananas. Once planted banana plant can be sold for 3 to 4 seasons. This year I cultivated banana on the bank of 23 bigha pond. 4 lakhs profit was made only on bananas, excluding expenses.
Bilchan Shaheed Samsujjoha Government College lecturer agriculturist Zahurul Haque Sarkar said, I cultivated bananas on one acre of land. I sold bananas for 50 to 60 rupees at a cost of 15,000 to 16,000 rupees per bigha. The soil of this area is very fertile. So besides crops, all kinds of fruits like banana, watermelon, litchi, mango and banana are good. Farmers in this area are becoming more interested in fruit cultivation along with crops.
Nazirpur haat lessee Nazrul Islam said that apart from the 6 unions of the upazila, large quantities of bananas also come from Singra and Baraigram of Natore. Here every day on an average 15 to 20 trucks loaded with bananas are going to different parts of the country. Each kaine banana is being sold between 300 and 500 taka depending on the size. On an average, more than two hundred tons of bananas come to this market every day from different areas of Chalanbil.
Zahid Hossain, a successful farmer in banana cultivation, said that the yield is good here due to the use of organic fertilizers. Also farmers in our area are now more inclined towards banana cultivation as the profit is higher and cost is lower than other crops.
I have been cultivating bananas for 10 years. This year I planted different varieties of sea banana, Amrit Sagar, Mehr Sagar in 10 bigha land. 300 to 400 seedlings can be planted per bigha of land. Bananas are available from planted trees within a few years. Farmers in the area are also encouraged by the success of my banana cultivation.
Gurdaspur Upazila Agricultural Extension Officer M Motiur Rahman said that last year, bananas were cultivated on 250 hectares of land in the upazila. This year banana cultivation has increased by 50 hectares.
Banana farmers are being given all kinds of support by the agriculture department.
