(Joypurhat) District Representative: A. Rashid (38) has become a successful farmer in capsicum cultivation from a daub seller in the fields of Joypurhat. Rashid is the son of Ali Akand of Dhantala Rasulpur village in Mahmadpur union of the upazila. He has earned eight to ten lakh taka in a year by cultivating capsicum on one acre of land.
It was seen on the spot that Dhantala Rasulpur is a remote village in Mamudpur Union of Khetlal Upazila of Joypurhat. There, A. Rashid used to work as a daily wage laborer in other people's houses with his wife and son. To overcome poverty, he went to Karwan Bazar in the capital Dhaka and started a business of selling daub on the sidewalk for a small commission from a moneylender. He could not support his family with that income. They used to make him think of doing something himself. There, he was inspired to cultivate capsicum after watching a video on the social media YouTube. Returning to the village last year, he started experimental cultivation of capsicum on his own initiative by renting 20 percent of someone else's land. He saw the profit in cultivating this promising vegetable right from the beginning. This season, he is again hoping to earn about eight lakh taka by renting one acre of land and cultivating capsicum commercially.
Capsicum farmer Abdur Rashid said, "I rented one acre of land in November for 120,000 taka for cultivating this unusual vegetable in our area. I decided to cultivate capsicum on that land and contacted the local government agricultural office. On their advice, I collected 16,000 seedlings from a nursery called Agro One in Bogra at a price of 7 taka per seedling. Since the beginning of cultivation, about 2.5 to 3 lakh taka has been spent so far, including chemical fertilizers, organic fertilizers, pesticides, seedlings and labor costs. I planted the seedlings in November. After two months of cultivation, the fruit collection started in January. The fruits were harvested twice every fifteen days and the capsicum worth about 2 lakh taka has been sold. Currently, the wholesale market in Bogra city is selling it for 32 to 35 thousand taka. I hope to sell another 6 to 8 lakh taka from the amount of fruit still on the trees."
He also said that since there is no expected demand for these vegetables in the local market of Joypurhat, they have to go to Dhaka and Bogra wholesale markets to sell them. This is costing additional transportation costs, labor and money. Since this nutritious vegetable, capsicum, is cultivated exclusively in this area, we cannot provide the goods to the wholesalers of the city as per their demand. That is why they do not come here to buy.
Local farmer Kalam Fakir said that Abdur Rashid has made a huge profit by cultivating capsicum for the first time. He would have made even more profit if he could have marketed it during the month of Ramadan. Along with Abdur Rahim, many farmers have decided to cultivate capsicum next year.
Agroan nursery owner Saim said that farmers in Khetlal Upazila have cultivated the A. Rashid Tiger variety of capsicum. The price of one kilogram of seeds of that variety of capsicum is 2.5 to 3 lakh taka. This increases the cost of production of the farmer. However, the price of the seeds of the Tiger Capsicum variety they produce is only 30 thousand taka. This will reduce the cost of production of the farmer. In addition, seeds can be collected from Tiger Capsicum for future cultivation. Therefore, farmers will benefit from cultivating this variety of capsicum.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Zahidul Islam said, "Most of the farmers in the area are accustomed to cultivating rice and potatoes. If other farmers like farmer Abdur Rashid are interested in cultivating capsicum, we will provide all possible support and we are working to motivate farmers to cultivate such crops in addition to rice and potatoes."
He said that this year he has cultivated tiger capsicum commercially on 1 acre of land. This variety is not affected by diseases and insects, so there has been a huge yield. Currently, the market price is low. If the price is good, he can sell it for 6-8 lakh taka.
