Photo: BSS

RANGPUR, April 30, 2025 (BSS)- Ginger cultivation in sacks has become a unique example of sustainable production of the spice in village Moyenpur of Mithapukur upazila of the district.

Shahinul Islam Bokul, a local youth agricultural entrepreneur has made the success story in the orchard of Haribhanga variety of mango by cultivating Bari-2 and Thai varieties of ginger.

Bokul, a postgraduate from Begum Rokeya University, started cultivating Haribhanga mango and achieved huge success over the past few years. At one stage he thought to cultivate ginger in barren land in Haribhanga mango orchard.

Studied in literature, Bokul became fascinated with agriculture from his boyhood through pisciculture, dairy and poultry farming in addition to producing Robi crops at different times of his life.

Finally Bokul switched to cultivating Haribhanga mango and ginger in the orchard after success over the past few years.

Bokul said, when he expressed desire to cultivate ginger in the Haribhanga mango orchards, Deputy Director of the Burirhat Horticulture Center of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Rangpur Dr. Md. Abu Sayem came forward to assist.

With the support of the DAE’s horticulture center, he started cultivating ginger in sacs on an exhibition plot of five decimals of land in his Haribhanga mango orchard.

He got all necessary assistance, including 500 sacs, fertilizers, seeds and technical support for cultivating ginger in sacs from the horticulture center.

Later he cultivated ginger in 12,000 sacs on another 50 decimals of land of the mango orchard, which later attracted many locals for ginger farming.

“After completing the harvest last month, I got 90 mounds of ginger from 12,500 sacs,” Bokul said, adding some 100 villagers also cultivated ginger in 10,000 sacs and produced around 50 mounds of ginger last season.

This year Bokul has cultivated ginger in 12,000 sacs and some 350 villagers in 40,000 sacs in the barren land of mango orchards, homesteads and other fallow lands in Moyenpur village.

Many people were inspired as ginger prices shot up to Taka 400 per kg last year. But this year the price fell down to Taka 100. Lack of preservation became a great concern for the farmers, Bokul said.

Talking to BSS, Dr. Md. Abu Sayem said Bokul has become an iconic successor as a young agricultural entrepreneur in the district as far as ginger production is concerned.

About 60,000 tonnes of ginger could be produced in Rangpur alone annually if all 4,000 hectares of land, including Haribhanga mango orchards on 1,910 hectares of land, in the region are brought under ginger farming, he said.

Huge prospects also lie on char areas of Rangpur division for ginger production, he added.

However, there should be enough facilities to allow the farmers to preserve their produce and get better prices, Dr Sayem said.