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With winter still nearly three months away, fields across Tangail are already turning green with early varieties of winter vegetables as farmers take advantage of favourable weather, modern farming techniques and close crop management.
Farmers in different parts of the district have started cultivating radish, cauliflower, cabbage, tomato, bottle gourd, carrot, bean, red amaranth and spinach, among other vegetables.
The hilly areas of Madhupur, Ghatail, Dhanbari and Sakhipur, as well as the chars along the Jamuna and Dhaleshwari rivers, have emerged as major centres of early winter vegetable cultivation.
Farmers say early vegetables can fetch two to three times higher profits than crops harvested during the peak season because of strong demand and relatively limited supply.
Field visits showed farmers working from early morning until evening, preparing land, planting seedlings, applying fertiliser, weeding and controlling pests and diseases. Rural women are also playing a significant role in seedling production and crop care.
Some early varieties of red amaranth, radish and bottle gourd have already started reaching local markets, where farmers are receiving good prices.
The fertile soil of the river chars and hilly areas is particularly suitable for early vegetable cultivation. As a result, the acreage under commercial winter vegetable farming has been increasing in Tangail in recent years.
Local farmers are supplying vegetables not only to meet demand in Tangail but also sending truckloads to Dhaka and other divisional and district towns across the country.
Madhupur farmer Raihan Kazi of Darihasil village has planted 16,000 seedlings of Captain and Winner varieties of cauliflower on 70 decimals of land.
He said he had already spent slightly more than Tk 100,000 and expected to harvest the crop in about two months.
“If the yield is good and I can sell the cauliflower at a fair price, I hope to make a profit of Tk 250,000-Tk 300,000 after covering production costs,” he said.
“Summer vegetable prices were good, but adverse weather prevented us from getting the expected yield. So, hoping for better returns, I started cultivating winter vegetables early,” Raihan said.
Rafiqul Islam, a farmer from Fulmalir Chala village in Ghatail’s Sagardighi union, said he had planted beans and bottle gourd on 40 decimals of land about a month ago.
“The plants are growing well and some have already started bearing fruit. I hope the yield will be good this year. If I get fair prices, I expect to make a good profit,” he said.
Madhupur Upazila Agriculture Officer Momtaz Begum said the agriculture department had expanded early cauliflower cultivation on two hectares through field demonstrations and incentives.
“Early varieties of cauliflower are tasty and also have nutritional and medicinal benefits. The agriculture department has provided farmers with necessary fertilisers and technical support,” she said.
She expressed hope that the initiative would encourage more farmers in the upazila to take up early vegetable cultivation.
District Department of Agricultural Extension Additional Deputy Director Swaeb Mahmud said the district had set a target to cultivate winter vegetables on 11,450 hectares this year.
The production target has been set at 294,220 tonnes, he said.
“Farmers in some areas have already started cultivating early winter vegetables to earn higher profits. However, they will become fully engaged in winter vegetable cultivation from October,” Swaeb said.
If favourable weather continues, the cultivation target is expected to be achieved, benefiting farmers, he added.