Coriander farming gets popular in Chapainawabganj

Since the Neolithic age, peoples across Asia and Europe have enjoyed eating coriander. Recently the staple herb of South Asian cuisine has proved a particular blessing for Chapainawabganj farmers. With its low production cost, relatively trouble-free cultivation, reliable demand and good prices, coriander is increasingly a crop of choice.

“I grew coriander on twenty five bighas of land this year,” says farmer Sohel Ali from Chanbhasa village in Charbagdanga union. “I started a few years ago with only three bighas, but have since leased more land for the crop since it is profitable.”

“I leased four bighas of land for coriander,” says another farmer, Torikul Islam, from Bagdanga village in Sundarpur union. “I paid Tk 20,000 per bigha for the lease, but I expect to make a profit of up to Tk 70,000 when the coriander is sold.

Previously grown in family plots on a small-scale, commercial coriander production in the region has taken off over the last decade. Currently, over 5,000 farmers are involved in the enterprise, especially in Sadar and Shibganj upazilas. On the river shoals where coriander will grow well, the herb has improved the lot of many.

“There will be handsome profits this season,” says Mohammad Alam, a farmer from Chanbhasa who grows coriander on six bighas. “A few days ago I sold a maund of coriander leaves for almost Tk 15,000. Now the rate is around Tk 7,000, which is still quite good.”

Local farmers report that it costs around Tk 6,000 per bigha to grow coriander, which will produce up to 20 maunds of leaves. Better still, each bigha can be cultivated with coriander repeatedly, up to six times during the life of a typical lease.

Production rates region-wide average 5,000 maunds per day, meeting local demand and sold across the country, especially in Dhaka. A mango orchard in Pathan Para of the district town has become the place where coriander crops arrive from several shoals and other areas to be sold to wholesalers. A maund of coriander leaves there will sell for up to Tk 8,000.

“Coriander is grown widely between October and February,” says the Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture Extension in Chapainawabganj, Monzurul Hoda. “Around 175 hectares, mostly on the sandbanks which are well-suited to coriander, were dedicated to the crop's production this year and it is increasing every day.”