A village known for its bitter gourd

The Parer Tong village in Ashidron union under Sreemangal upazila of Moulvibazar is widely known as Korola'r Gram, or bitter gourd village, by vegetable wholesalers and traders all over Bangladesh.

About 10,000 kilogrammes (kgs) of bitter gourd are sold from local markets each day with many shops and stalls having been set up in the roughly 150-acre area.

"Everyone in the village grows bitter gourd on a commercial basis as it takes less investment and time while offering better returns compared to other crops," said Nasu Mia, a resident of Parer Tong.

The vegetable is currently selling for around Tk 42 per kg while it was Tk 80 during the first week of Ramadan earlier this year, he added.

It takes about Tk 40,000 to cultivate each bigha of land for bitter gourd, including the cost of fertiliser, seeds and labour.

Nasu registered a profit of Tk 40,000 from the 1,600 kgs of bitter gourd he grew this season.

Amena Begum, a resident of the village, said the opportunity to work on bitter gourd fields has helped decrease unemployment in the area.

"I get up to Tk 300 daily for tending fields," she added.

Arju Mia, a vegetable wholesaler from the Mirpur area of Habiganj, said he buys about 3,000 kgs of bitter gourd from Parer Tong almost every day.

"Traders like me sell this crop in different parts of the country, including major metropolitan areas such as Dhaka and Chattogram," he added.

Hamdul Haque, general secretary of the Parer Tong collection point market, said bitter gourd cultivation is bringing financial solvency to many in the area.

"If we keep this up, then the economic scenario of our village will change even more," he added.

Haque went on to say that local farmers are more inclined towards cultivating bitter gourd instead of other crops as it offers bumper yields and profit.

Tapas Chakraborty, divisional manager of Lal Teer Seed Limited, said locals would previously cultivate paddy and other traditional crops but now, almost every family is engaged in growing bitter gourd.

"We suggested that they cultivate the Tia and Tia Super varieties. Our field workers trained the farmers in how to plant the seeds, grow seedlings and make lofts at affordable prices," he added.

He then said that the Tia and Tia Super are hybrid varieties that provide better yields for being altitude and salinity tolerant. The crop can be cultivated year-round, except during harsh winters.

Yielding up to 13 tonnes per acre, bitter gourd can be harvested as early as 42 days after planting.

Md Mohiuddin, upazila agriculture officer of Sreemangal, said bitter gourd cultivation is expanding day by day as farmers are being drawn in by the crop's profitability.

About 95 per cent of the farmland in Sreemangal was used to grow bitter gourd this year.

"Our agriculture officers give advice to farmers all over the entire upazila. They did not face any problems in cultivating the crop this year as there were no disease or pest outbreaks," he added.

As a result, production was much higher this time around. Some 350 tonnes of bitter gourd were produced in the area this season compared to 240 tonnes last year.

"Almost all of the 180 families in the village are involved in bitter gourd cultivation," Mohiuddin said, adding that as much Tk 12 lakh worth of the crop are sold from the area each day.