#Title

Mustard farmers pleased with yields, prices
Workers at a farm in Bhadai village under Aditmari upazila of Lalmonirhat are seen collecting seeds from mustard plants for sale at local markets. Encouraged by good prices in the previous season, growers increased mustard cultivation in 2022 with each maund of the oilseed now selling for up to Tk 4,000.
S DILIP ROY
Farmers in the greater Rangpur region are so far pleased with their mustard yields amid the ongoing harvesting period while prices for the major oilseed are higher compared to what they were last season.
According to growers in the region, they are getting up to six maunds of mustard from each bigha of land, which cost about Tk 6,000 to cultivate.
Each maund (roughly 37 kilogrammes) of the crop is now bringing them between Tk 3,600 to Tk 4,000 in local markets while the rate was Tk 3,000 to Tk 3,200 last season.
After harvesting their Aman paddy crops, farmers started sowing mustard plants in mid-October of 2022. And following the current harvest, they will plant Boro paddy seedlings in the same field as mustard cultivation improves soil fertility.
Sources at the local Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said 52,552 hectares of land across five districts in the region -- Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Rangpur, Gaibandha and Nilphamari -- were used to grow mustard in 2022 while it was 39,290 hectares in 2021.
Mustard cultivation expanded in the 2022 season as record prices for edible oil encouraged farmers to increase acreage of the crop.
Besides, the DAE provided incentives for farming mustard with a target to produce one lakh tonnes of the oilseed.
As a result, farmers sowed mustard on eight lakh hectares of land in the cultivating season, which was the highest in recent decades, showed data from the DAE.
Bangladesh annually requires 20 lakh tonnes of edible oil, around 90 per cent of which is met through imported soybean seeds, crude soybean and palm oil from Argentina, Brazil and Indonesia.
The country spent Tk 35,730 crore to import oilseeds and edible oil in fiscal 2021-22, which was four times the Tk 8,160 crore registered in 2009-10, as per Bangladesh Bank data.
Abdul Malek, a farmer of Anantapur village under Phulbari upazila of Kurigram, said he got 40 maunds of mustard from seven bighas of land at a cost of Tk 43 thousand this season.
He already sold 20 maunds of the crop for Tk 3,700 per maund at a local market. Last year, he harvested a total of 17 maunds from three bighas of land and sold it for Tk 3,000 per maund.
“As I got the expected yields and prices for mustard last season, I increased the acreage this time,” he said, adding that he hopes to expand cultivation even further in the coming season.
Mizanur Rahman, another farmer of the same village, said he is pleased with his bumper production this season as he got 23 maunds of mustard from four bighas of land.
Rahman went on to say that more farmers would be enthusiastic about growing the crop if prices remain above Tk 3,000 per maund.
Naresh Chandra Das, a farmer of Thanahat village in Chilmari upazila of Kurigram, said he cultivated mustard on 10 bighas of land this season while it was four bighas in 2021.
Das, who has already sold 18 maunds of the oilseed for Tk 3,700 per maund, then said the present market price has made him more interested in increasing acreage.
In addition, Das enjoyed good yields of Boro paddy by planting the crop in the same field after mustard cultivation. So, he hopes to do the same this year too.
“Mustard cultivation increases soil fertility and preserves the balance of the environment,” he added.
Manindra Nath Barman, a farmer of the Bhatibari area of Lalmonirhat sadar upazila, said he once gave up on mustard cultivation for not getting the expected prices.
After having grown the oilseed on up to 10 bighas of land about a decade ago, Barman again tried his hand at farming mustard on just one bigha in 2021.
Considering the promising results, he planted the crop on six bighas of land in October 2022.
“I got expected production this year and the price is also good,” Barman said, adding that more farmers like him would engage in mustard cultivation if the current market price continues.
Alamgir Hossain, a mustard trader in Lalmonirhat town, said there is huge demand for mustard among the common people.
“We buy mustard from local farmers and sell it to wholesalers at different places,” he added.
Biplab Kumar Mohanta, deputy director of the DAE in Kurigram, said farmers were given seed and fertiliser incentives for the current season to bring them back to mustard cultivation.
“Farmers are being given all kinds of technical assistance,” he added.
Shah Alam, additional director of the DAE in Rangpur, said that as mustard is a three-month crop, farmers can grow it with less cost and effort.
In a bid to encourage farmers, the Oilseed Research Center (ORC) under the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute had doubled its seed distribution in 2022, according to Md Abdul Latif Akanda, a director of the ORC.
The agency provided seeds of the Bari Mustard-14, Bari Mustard-17 and Bari Mustard-18 varieties, he added.