BSS: Farmers along with field level agricultural extension officials, scientists and researchers are now expecting bumper production of chickpea commonly known as ‘chhola’ or ‘boot’ in the region including its vast Barind tract.
According to the sources concerned, the prediction has become surfaced amidst suitable climate and topographical condition for the cash crop farming.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has set a target of producing 1869 tonnes of chickpea from 1,563 hectares of land in eight districts under Rajshahi division this year. Farmers are happy with the satisfactory yield of chickpea in the region for the last couple of years. Abdus Samad, a farmer of Luxmipur village under Godagari Upazila in the district, cultivated chickpea on one bigha of land and got yield worth Taka 7,000 by spending only Taka 2,500 last year.
He also brought two bighas of land under the crop farming this year.
Samad says chickpea farming is very much cost-effective as it is one of the less-water consuming crops. Like him, many other farmers also harvested better yields in recent years generating a prediction of expanding the cash crop farming.