Rangpur: The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has set an ambitious target of producing 55,753 tonnes of ginger on 3,895 hectares of land in the Rangpur agricultural region during the current Kharif-1 season. DAE officials at its Rangpur regional office announced that farmers are actively sowing ginger seeds and seedlings on their croplands and expanding cultivation using sacks across all five districts of the region.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, farmers have already sown ginger seeds and seedlings on 1,658 hectares of land, achieving 42.57 percent of the fixed target in districts including Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, and Nilphamari. This cultivation effort is being driven by past successes, with repeated bumper production and rewarding prices encouraging an expansion of ginger cultivation on croplands, homesteads, and fallow lands.
Krishibid Md Shirajul Islam, Additional Director of DAE for the Rangpur region, highlighted the government’s role in providing quality seeds to small and marginal farmers. This initiative aims to boost the production of spice crops through crop diversification and modern technology, with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency in locally produced spices.
The DAE, along with other agriculture-related departments, is offering necessary training to farmers, while banks provide easy-to-access agricultural loans to promote the cultivation of ginger and other spice crops. Farmers like Meher Ali, Lokman Ahmed, Abu Hossain, and Sahanur Rahman from various villages in Rangpur are actively participating in this effort by sowing ginger seeds and seedlings on their lands.
An educated farmer, Shahinul Islam Bakul of Moyenpur village in Mithapukur upazila, shared his success story. After producing 115 maunds of ginger from 16,000 sacks last year, Bakul plans to increase his cultivation to 18,000 sacks this season, using his Haribhanga mango orchard for ginger cultivation as well.
Bakul emphasized the importance of modern storage facilities and the utilization of all fallow lands and homesteads for ginger cultivation to achieve self-sufficiency in domestic production. Meanwhile, in the local markets, ginger is currently being sold at retail prices ranging from Tk 120 to Tk 160 per kg, with wholesalers pricing it between Tk 90 and Tk 120 per kg.
Md Mamunur Rashid, a PhD fellow in the Department of Agricultural Extension at Dinajpur’s Hajee Mohammad Danesh University of Science and Technology, praised the government’s steps to increase spice crop production. He noted that expanding the cultivation of high-yielding ginger varieties in sacks, fallow lands, and char areas could further enhance production and reduce the foreign exchange spent on ginger imports. Rashid also stressed the need for adequate storage facilities to help farmers preserve their produce and secure fair prices year-round.