When a vast number of young men and women of our country are passing hard time in search of any suitable job for survival, a man of Shailkupa upazila in Jhenaidah has been fighting against all odds including unemployment by cultivating taro that is better known as latikachu locally.
Faruq Hossain, 35, of Motneja village in Shailkupa upazila when contacted said, he started cultivating taro on his 20 decimals of land in last Bangla month of Chaitra. He had already started harvesting the taro (lati) after 11-12 weeks of the inception. Now he has been harvesting 120-130 bundles of taro worth Tk 1,250 on an average twice a week.
The same plot will ensure Faruq crop till early October. He is expecting to harvest taro worth about Tk 30 thousand, while earning another additional Tk 15 thousand from the lower portion or root of the aurum, he added.
Faruq Hossain said, “Our youths have been passing hard time in search of jobs, but farming of aurum, taro or other crops might reduce the unemployment crisis if they desires to do so.” He is mentally set to distribute a good number of his taro among the farmers interested in farming them.
According to Faruq Hossain he could have earned more money if proper rainfall was available during the plantation of seed aurum in last Chaitra. Severe drought had affected the normal growth of the crop.
He added that local agriculture office had extended their hands in farming taro. He hoped that farming taro next time might as well reduce the production cost and benefit him in the process.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) office in Jhenaidah, the farmers of Jhenaidah Sadar, Kaliganj, Kotchandpur, Moheshpur, Shailkupa and Harinakundu had brought a total of 75 hectares of land under taro farming in the current season, while the figure was 106 hectares in the last season.
Jhenaidah DAE’s Deputy Director Asgar Ali when contacted said there is a good demand of taro in Jhenaidah and its surrounding areas due to its nutritional value.
Further farming of the crop might help strengthen socio-economic state of the farmers. It can also play a huge role in reducing the unemployment problem for the youths and make them self-reliant, added the official.
