Kartik, the Bengali month that runs from mid-October to mid-November, is traditionally the time to prepare land for potatoes and other winter crops in Munshiganj. This photo gallery follows the fields of Bikrampur as they move from the quiet after the rains into the busiest season of the farming year.

The opening frames show freshly ploughed fields, the soil turned and broken into the light, loose loam that potatoes prefer. Farmers and labourers walk the rows at sunrise, levelling ground and marking out beds, while sacks of seed potatoes wait at the edge of the fields.

Next come close-ups of the work itself: hands cutting seed tubers, baskets of organic manure, and neat furrows where seed is laid and covered. Local farming guidance suggests about 1,500 to 2,000 kg of seed per hectare, with balanced fertiliser and organic manure to lift yields. Varieties grown in the area include Diamond, Cardinal and Granola, among others.

The scale of the work is remarkable. Last season, Munshiganj farmers planted 34,660 hectares of potatoes, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension, with Munshiganj Sadar, Tongibari and Sirajdikhan together accounting for nearly four fifths of the area. In a few weeks, the same fields will be green with leaves, and the crop is usually ready to lift about three months after planting.

Other frames capture the wider landscape: irrigation channels being cleared, cold storage buildings standing beyond the fields, and late afternoon light falling across rows that stretch towards the horizon. Neighbours share tools and labour, and the edges of the fields become meeting places for tea and conversation.

Technology is also reaching the fields. Farmers enrolled in the government's Farmer Card programme will receive SMS weather forecasts on their phones every six hours in normal conditions, the agriculture ministry said on 2 November, to help them plan planting and irrigation.

The gallery ends with a single image of a farmer resting at the edge of a field, a reminder that every sack of Munshiganj potatoes begins with weeks of patient work in Kartik.

Photo: Olivier, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons