Natore farmers happy with expected sweet potato yield

Farmers in Natore are happy with the expected sweet potato yield as the process of collecting sweet potatoes from cultivated land is almost over.

Sweet potato farmers are benefiting from the high price in the market along with the expected potato yield.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), sweet potatoes have been cultivated on 69 hectares of land in the district this season.

Farmers have harvested sweet potatoes from about 60 hectares of land and the yield rate is 26.59 tonnes per hectare.

It is expected that around 1,900 tonnes of sweet potatoes will be produced in the district this season, the DAE office said.

Ashraf Ali, a farmer from the Hazra area of Sadar Upazila, said, "It is a profitable crop and I am expecting to get at least 80 maunds of yield per bigha of land."

"I have got a yield of 78 maunds of sweet potato from per bigha of land. Initially, I sold them at Taka 1500 per maund," said farmer Saiful Islam of Boro Saoil village in Singra Upazila.

Vegetable trader Kamal Hossain of the district town's Nichabazar area said now sweet potatoes are being sold at Tk40 per kg in the retail market. 

Housewife Masuma Sultana said, "Sweet potatoes are rich in nutrients and contain a lot of vitamin A. It is rich in fibre and minerals. It contains a lot of antioxidants and anti-cancer elements. So, I prepare various dishes with sweet potatoes and serve them to my children." 

DAE Deputy Director Habibul Islam Khan said sweet potatoes have been cultivated on 69 hectares of land in the district this season. 

"The area of cultivated land has increased compared to last year," he said, adding that the yield is also as expected.

The agriculture department will work to increase the area under sweet potato cultivation in the district in future.