Good price of mung bean makes farmers happy

Mung bean farmers in the district are happy with bumper yield and good market price of the popular food crop this season.
Growers cultivated mung bean in last December and they are now busy harvesting the crop. 

Favourable weather along with availability of fertilisers for relatively low prices led to bumper yield of the crop this season, farmers said.
"I cultivated mung bean on three acres of land at a cost of Tk 50,000. I have already got 22 maunds of harvest and hope to get 40 maunds more from my field this season. The total selling price would be Tk 1.24 lakh as per kg of bean is selling at Tk 50 in the local market," said Hanif Fakir of Badarpur village under Patuakhali Sadar upazila.

"In last year I cultivated the crop on one acre of land and got 20 maunds of yield. This year I cultivated it on three acres as it is profitable," he added.

Abdul Awal Mia of the same area said he cultivated mung bean on five acres of land and hope to get about 100 maunds of yield.
In the ongoing peak harvesting period, many women are engaged in collecting mung bean in the fields for a portion of the crop as wage from the field owner.

"I can collect 14 to 16 kg of bean a day and get one-sixth of it as wage," said Sahida Begum, who was collecting mung bean in a field of Badarpur village on Friday afternoon.

Aklima Begum, Helena Begum, Ambia Khatun, Joynob Begum, Kohinoor Begum, and Jahanara were also seen engaged in the seasonal work to add to their family income.

This year around 60,000 acres of land has been brought under mung bean cultivation in eight upazilas of Patuakhali district, said Ashok Kumar Sharma, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension.

The profitable farming sees gradual increase in the district and growers are happy with its bumper yield this year, he said.