The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has set a target of producing around 1.25 lakh tonnes sweet potato from around 8,000 hectares land in the country’s northwest region during the current season.
Sources said the DAE and other government and non-government organisations concerned have taken necessary measures to make the sweet potato cultivation a success in the region.Additional Director of DAE Ekram Hossain told BSS that the sandy lands and the riverbeds are suitable for the sweet potato cultivation. So, people of the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins and the remote char areas are habituated in the farming widely besides consuming it.Production cost of the crop is very low, as it requires less fertilizer and irrigation. He said nutritive value of the crop is similar to rice and its taste is delicious.It contains vitamin-A and C and expected mineral elements, which are absent in rice. It is also enriched with protein, carbohydrate, calcium, iron, carotene and vitamin B1 and B2, which are essential for human body.An adult person needs 13 grams vitamin-A per day that can be fulfilled
after consuming only a single sweet potato. Ekram Hossain mentioned that people of Philippines and Papua New Guinea consume sweet potato as alternative of rice while in USA and Japan it used as food widely. He also mentioned that different types of tasty foods like halua, payesh, bread, loaves, biscuit, pastry and cake could be made through processing the indigenous potato.”If we can make the people habituated to sweet potato consumption the nation can reduce its dependence on rice to a greater extent,” he said adding that steps should be taken to make the people in general aware in this regard.In this context, he also said importance should be given to providing adequate training and agri-loans among the farmers.”We have enormous scopes of boosting both acreage and yield of the indigenous crop through the best uses of the existing natural resources,” said Nurul Amin, Deputy Director of DAE, Rajshahi, adding that need-based steps should be taken for proper utlilization of the potentialities. -BSS, Rajshahi
