MADARIPUR, Oct 18: Sugarcane cultivation is gradually gaining popularity in the district as the farmers made high profit in the last couple of years with good yield of the crop.
Sources at Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in the district said, different varieties of sugarcane, which have high demand across the country, are being cultivated in 678 hectares of land in four upazilas of the district. It was 580 ha last year.
Deputy Director of district DAE GMA Gafur said the soil and the weather of the district are suitable for the cultivation of different varieties of sugarcane.
He said farmers are being more interested in farming sugarcane now due to less production cost and higher profit compared to any other crops, including paddy and jute.
"We are inspiring farmers to cultivate the crop," added Gafur, saying that the government, however, has no project especially for sugarcane here.
Locals said the situation was different just five years ago. Traders were used to bring sugarcane from other districts, and sell those in local markets.
But now, the crop is being cultivated in every village of the district. Besides, after meeting the local demand, sugarcane is being sent to other parts of the country.
Sugarcane farmer Kalu Bepary of Kalikapur Village said they were inspired through other farmers who made higher profit last year harvesting the crop instead of paddy and jute.
He said, "I made satisfactory profit from sugarcane farming this year."
He added he would cultivate the crop on more lands immediately after harvesting paddy.
Farmer Bipul Bala of Kolagachia Village said he cultivated sugarcane on 60-decimal land and is hoping to make profit worth about Tk 2 lakh after meeting all costs.
He said, "I took some land on lease for the sugarcane farming."
The farmers said if the government supports them with providing high yielding seeds and fertilisers, they can do even better.
They said sugarcane farming requires irrigation at least three times during the cultivation period. Besides, the labour cost is very low.
After the harvest, they can farm mustard, pulse, and some other crops, which cannot be cultivated with paddy or jute.
