Arun Singh has planted red ladies’ finger in Pelku Jot area near Siliguri and he has started his cultivation of this red ladies’ finger with 50 grams of seeds in about four acres of land. He made a splash in the area by cultivating the red coloured ladies’ finger for the first time and is doing so by using only organic fertilizers without using any chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
Compared to other green vegetables, he is expecting double profit as the red ladies’ finger takes less time to cultivate and is also cost-effective. Singh is very happy that this vegetable is in good demand in the local market and also fetching a good price.
The country is now undergoing health-based farming, i.e. more attention is being paid to healthy crops and red ladies’ finger is being favoured due to its high antioxidant and iron content.
Red ladies’ finger contains about 94 per cent polyunsaturated fat, which helps in removing bad cholesterol along with 66 per cent sodium content which helps in reducing high blood pressure. It also removes iron deficiency, anaemia. Since it has many such health-benefitting qualities, in demand supply economy the market price of red ladies’ finger is much higher than green ladies’ finger.
Agriculture expert Ashish Adhikari said, “A farmer first started cultivation of this Kerala red ladies’ finger in Jalpaiguri in North Bengal, then Arun Singh first cultivated this ladies’ finger in Darjeeling district. It does not require any fertilizer to grow this ladies’ finger and it is being cultivated completely organically."
However, the demand in the market is a little less this time but it is gradually increasing. Now, where green ladies’ finger is being sold at Rs. 20 per kg, this red ladies’ finger is being sold at Rs. 40 to Rs. 45 per kg. However, in some places, this red ladies’ finger is said to be Rs. 700 to 800 per kg.
Ashish said, “On one hand, as the price of ladies’ finger is getting higher, the yield of this ladies’ finger is also getting high, due to which the farmer is seeing the face of profit."