Rangpur: Like previous years, this year too, riverine people have started cultivating various winter crops in the mixed-relay system in the char areas of the Brahmaputra basin in the Rangpur agricultural region.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) reported that soon after the recession of floodwater, char people began sowing seeds on char lands and dried-up riverbeds as shoals appeared with the deposition of highly fertile alluvial soils.
Rangpur regional Acting Additional Director of the DAE, Krishibid Md Sirajul Islam, noted that around 82,000 hectares of char lands in Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, and Nilphamari districts are utilized for crop cultivation each year. Hundreds of riverside and char people are producing approximately six-lakh tonnes of various crops, worth Taka 1,200 crore, from these fertile lands annually.
“Bumper production of varieties of crops in char lands during the winter season keeps the char economy vibrant, bringing fortune to many people living there,” Krishibid Sirajul Islam told BSS. Along with increasing food production by cultivating various crops on sandy char lands, char people are reaping rewarding profits from harvesting crops every year to lead a better life.
The array of crops being cultivated includes potato, sweet pumpkin, sesame, linseed, squash, brinjal, onion, carrot, garlic, green chili, gourd, bitter gourd, banana, mustard, pulses, cauliflower, cabbage, sunflower, groundnut, wheat, maize, indigenous varieties of Boro rice, and vegetables. The vast marshes, bottomlands, and alluvial plains of the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla, Dudhkumar, Ghaghot, Yamuna, Kartoa, and other rivers will soon turn a striking green with the progress of winter crop cultivation.
“They will begin harvesting their cultivated crops from late December to end the process before the commencement of the rainy season,” Krishibid Sirajul Islam added. Deputy Director of the DAE’s Burirhat Horticulture Centre in Rangpur city, Krishibid Dr. Md Abu Sayem, highlighted the efforts of the people of char and riverine areas in cultivating crops on their flood-hit char lands.
Farming of winter crops is expanding every year on char lands in the Rangpur agriculture region, mostly adopting intercropping and mixed-relay methods. This expansion is benefiting hundreds of char people and bringing about a revolutionary change in the char agro-economy. “Getting assistance from the government, many char families have already achieved self-reliance through farming various crops on char lands, changing their living standards and livelihoods in recent years,” Sayem said.
Recently, following a flash flood, char people from villages such as Gannarpar, Buridangi, Singhimari, Miazipara, Motukpur, Kolkond, Bagdohra, and Chhalapak of Gangachara upazila in Rangpur have become active in cultivating crops on char lands. Riverside and char residents, including Mahbubul Islam, Mahbub Hossain, and Anwar Hossain of Paschim Mohipur village, expressed their intent to sow seeds of winter crops on char lands as they have done in previous years.
Nur Hossain from Purbo Mohipur village successfully cultivated maize, potato, garlic, and onion on 1.50 acres of char lands on the dried-up Teesta riverbeds last season and is preparing to do the same this year. Similarly, Mahabbat Hossain, Abdul Malek, and Abed Ali from Dhushmara Char in Kawnia upazila are preparing to sow pumpkin seeds and potatoes on char lands after earning lucrative profits from their produce last year. Jahanara Begum, Aklima Khatun, and Akbar Hossain from Char Montola and Afsar Ali of Char Goynar Patal in Chilmari upazila of Kurigram are also sowing seeds of various winter crops like ‘Khira’, green chilli, maize, and more on char lands.