For long, cucumbers and pumpkins remained the only popular squash vegetables in Bangladesh. When Bangladesh Agricultural Extensions introduced zucchinis to farmers in the late 1990s, there was some confusion among both farmers and consumers regarding the cultivation and uses of this new type of squash. However, zucchini squash has now gained popularity among farmers in Bangladesh as a short-duration crop. Farmers feel secure cultivating this vegetable because it requires less water, requires lower production costs, has higher yields, and a growing market demand. Shithi Rani is a farmer from the northern district of Nilphamari, which is crisscrossed by many rivers and naturally generates many river islands. Consequently, most of her arable lands remain flooded during the monsoon season, June through October. For her, the remaining months are crucial, as she needs to use the lands properly to manage the livelihood for her 5-member family. Considering this, five years back, she dared to cultivate the unknown-to-her vegetable, zucchini squash, following one of her neighbors. This year, Shithi Rani is cultivating about half an acre of zucchini squash and has already produced around 5,000 kilograms (11,000 pounds) of the vegetable. “Squash is being sold at 25-30 taka ($0.22-$0.27) per kilogram in the local market, and till now, I received 130,000 taka ($1,184) after spending 50,000 taka ($455) as production cost, which is a big profit for me,” she told Mongabay. Zucchini squash, also called courgette, has long been known in other parts of the world to be a delicious and popular vegetable.…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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