Farmers achieve success in cultivating sweet jumbo grass in char areas

Profit of taka 50,000 per acre possible
The char people have been attaining remarkable success in eradicating poverty by farming Australian hybrid variety sweet jumbo grass in the sandy char areas on the country’s Brahmaputra basin during the past two years. The distressed char people have been achieving their faster economic self-reliance side by side getting more milk production and fattening their cows through farming the grass that has ushered in a new era in the economy of the char areas.
Some 18 NGOs under the ongoing government’s Char Livelihood Programme (CLP) have been assisting the distressed char people living in 19 upazilas under Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur and Sirajganj districts in farming the grass since 2008. After getting tremendous results last year, the NGOs have launched a large-scale farming programme of the hybrid variety grass in 1,000 acres land this season under the CLP to eradicate poverty in the disaster-prone char areas.
Enterprise Supervisor of Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) Moni Krishna Adhikari, who is In charge of the grass programme in Rajibpur, Roumari and Chilmari upazilas and its Market Development Officer for Chilmari upazila Mokhlesur Rahman, informed BSS on Thursday about the success. The two RDRS officials, who are directly involved in expanding sweet jumbo grass farming programme of the CLP, told the national news agency that they started farming the grass last year with a view to eradicate poverty through promoting animal husbandry.
The Pacific Seed Company first imported seeds of the grass from Australia and the CLP authorities arranged distribution of the same among the char people through the district level seed distributors and the NGOs last year. Each pack of the imported grass seeds weighing 300 gram costs Taka 85 which can be sowed in 10 decimals of land and the per acre total cost in farming the grass stands in between Taka 4,500 and 5,000.
The growers can get the first harvest after one month of sowing seeds and there might be a total of eight harvests after every month from the same land and the farmers can earn a net profit of up to Taka 50,000 per acre annually after feeding their own cows. Farmer Shahjahan Ali, 35, of village char Bozra Diarkhata in Noyarhat union under Chilmari upazila of Kurigram told BSS that he sowed seeds of Sweet Jumbo Grass in his 17 decimals land some three months ago.
“I am meeting the total fodder demand of my seven cows free of costs and already sold the produced grass at Taka 17,000 in two harvests during the past two months and earned unexpected profits,” he said.
Farmers Faridul Islam, 35, of Roumari, Abdul Baten, 45, of Jadur Char in Roumari upazila and Saidur Rahman, 38, of Char Kodalkati village in Rajibpur upazila said that they have also cultivated the grass in their some 20 decimals land each. “We have sold our produced grass at Taka 18,000 on an average so far after meeting our own demands for seven to eight cows at homes during the past two months and we are expecting more profits after next harvests,” they said.
Farmer Mintu Mian, 40, of village Nalita Khata in Chilmari upazila of Kurigram has cultivated the grass in his 50 decimals land and already sold the produced grass at Taka 18,000 after feeding his own eight cows during the same period. Farmer Goychhal Mian, 42, of the same village has cultivated the grass in his 50 decimal lands and already sold his produced grass of two harvests at Taka 14,000 after feeding his own 12 cows so far.
Enterprise Supervisor of RDRS Moni Krishna Adhikari told BSS that the grass has huge demand everywhere and it has been cultivated in over 1,000 acres land in all 19 upazilas under the CLP in the char areas of these four districts in the river basins this year. “The grass has been cultivated in 140 acres of char lands involving 645 farmers and destitute char people in Roumari, Rajibpur and Chilmari upazilas of Kurigram in the Brahmaputra basin this time,” he added. A farmer can get 40 kgs of grass in every monthly harvest from one decimal land and they can get some eight such harvests in a year except the time when the char areas remain under flood waters during the rainy season. “The grass has tremendous demand both in the char, rural and urban areas throughout the country and the same is being sold at Taka 2.5 per kg in the char areas though its price is higher in the mainland,” Moni Krishna Adhikari said.
Milk production capacity of the cow increases and health improves side by side with their fattening if they are feed with the nutritious Sweet Jumbo Grass, Moni Krishna Adhikari and Mokhlesur Rahman added.

Courtesy of BSS, Rangpur