A large amount of chilli has been cultivated in the char areas of River Jamuna in Sirajganj district, bringing smiles on the faces of farmers with a bumper yield this year.
According to sources with the Sirajganj Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), chilli has been cultivated on around 1,870 hectares of land in the current Robi season. Among them, 680 hectares of land in Sirajganj Sadar, 440 in Kazipur, 465 in Raigonj, 95 in Ullapara, 78 in Kamarkhand, 70 in Chauhali, 22 in Shahjadpur, 10 in Tarash and 10 hectares in Belkuchi upazila.
Farmers used hybrid, high quality and local seeds for chilli cultivation. Among them, hybrid seeds were of Bijli, Jamuna, Roshni, high quality seeds were of Rabi-3, supersonic, Rangpuri and Bogra. Besides, local seeds were also widely cultivated. Farmers have received around 10.63 tonnes of pepper from each hectare of land.

The target of dry chilli production was set at 16,488 tonnes which will be distributed to different parts of the country after meeting the local demand. Currently, farmers are spending a busy time picking the green and red chillies from the land.
According to local market sources, currently, green chillies are being sold at Tk50 to Tk60 and dry chillies are being sold at Tk500 to Tk600 per kg. The prices may vary depending on the quality.
A special market for buying and selling chillies is held in Natwerpara on two days weekly where wholesalers come from different parts of the district. Various well-known spice companies of Bangladesh also gather at the weekly market as the quality of chilli produced in these areas has a good reputation.
Farmers said they spend about Tk30,000 to Tk35,000 per bigha for chilli cultivation and the fields require three to four times irrigation. Besides, chilli farming requires the use of simple pesticides. The chilli collection starts within 60 to 70 days after planting the seeds.

Chillies can be collected from the land once a week, and the harvest continues for three to four months making it more profitable to the farmers than other crops.
After picking the chillies from the land, the farmers dry them for 10 to 12 days on the banks of the Jamuna. women of farmers’ families join this work, hoping the additional income for the family. Chilli cultivation is increasing every year in the district as chilli produced in Jamuna char areas is in high demand across the country due to its good quality, locals said.
Shahidul Islam, a farmer of Paikpara village in Sonamukhi union, said he cultivated pepper on one bigha of land spending Tk32,000. Currently, the market price of dry chilli is around Tk550 to Tk600 taka per kg. He has harvested around four mounds of dry chilli, the market value of which would be about Tk1 lakh.
Salam Sheikh, a pepper grower of Natwarpara, said that based on the advice from the agriculture department, he has cultivated pepper on two bighas of land and has already sold 40 mounds of raw chillies. He is set to sell another eight mounds of dried chillies worth Tk2 lakh.
Md Amjad Hossain, a chilli wholesaler of Gutiarchar, said that he has been buying and selling raw and dry chillies for a long time. This year, he bought and sold about 200 mounds of chillies in the current season. At least, 30 to 32 wholesalers are directly involved in chilli business like him in this area, he added.