Hundreds of people of Char and riverside are happy with the bumper harvest of winter crops in Rangpur this season. Photo : BSS

By Md Mamun Islam
RANGPUR, Feb 14, 2025 (BSS) - Hundreds of char and riverside people are happy with a bumper harvest of their cultivated winter crops in shoals, char land, and dried-up riverbeds of the Rangpur agricultural region this season.
 
As the harvest of their cultivated winter crops continues with excellent yields, they are dreaming of leading a better life with their families, getting a bumper crop output with fair prices.
 
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said the harvest of early varieties of potatoes, onions, vegetables, pumpkins, and other varieties of crops continues on charred lands with excellent yield rates, and the process will continue till May next.
 
Additional Director of the DAE for the Rangpur region, Agriculturist Md Afzal Hossain, told BSS that the production of varieties of crops in char lands during the winter season keeps the char economy vibrant, bringing fortune to many people living there in recent years.
 
During the current Rabi season, landless char and riverside people, small and marginal farmers, have cultivated crops on around 82,000 hectares of char lands and dried-up riverbeds in all five districts of the Rangpur agricultural region.
 
They have cultivated crops such as potatoes, sweet pumpkins, squash, brinjal, onions, garlic, green chilies, gourds, bitter gourds, carrots, bananas, mustard, pulses, cauliflower, cabbage, groundnuts, wheat, and indigenous varieties of Boro rice in char lands and dried-up riverbeds.
 
Along with increasing food production, char people have brought about a revolutionary change in the agro-economy through cultivating crops in recent decades in char lands and dried-up riverbeds to lead a better life.
 
"Char people are producing six lakh metric tonnes of crops worth Taka 1,190 crore from 82,000 hectares of char lands and dried-up riverbeds in the Rangpur agricultural region annually, and the trend continues increasing every year," Hossain added.
 
Deputy Director at Burirhat Horticulture Centre in Rangpur of the DAE Agriculturist Md Abu Sayem said crop cultivation on char lands and dried-up riverbeds has been increasing every year in the region.
 
"Expanded cultivation of crops on char lands has changed the fortunes of many char people living in the riverine char areas along the banks of the Teesta, Dharla, Brahmaputra, Jamuna, and other rivers in the Rangpur agricultural region," he said.
 
Talking to BSS, people living in char villages of Gannarpar, Kolkond, Bagdohra, Purbo Mohipur, Paschim Mohipur, and Chhalapak in the Gangachara upazila of Rangpur said they are busy in harvesting and taking care of growing crops.
 
Char people Nur Hossain, Abdul Aziz, Shahinur Islam, and Fancy Begum of Char Purbo Mohipur village in the upazila said they have cultivated crops like onions, pumpkin, 'Khira,' green chili, maize, and other crops in the dried-up beds of the Teesta this season.
 
"I have already sold harvested 'Khira,' pumpkin, onions, and other crops," said Islam, and he expected to earn a better profit of around Taka two lakh, excluding all expenses, after completing the harvest of his cultivated crop by mid-May next.

Nur Hossain has cultivated maize, potato, garlic, and onion in 1.50 acres of char lands on the dried-up beds of the river Teesta this season. The crops are growing superbly amid favorable climatic conditions.

"Like in the previous years, I expect to get a bumper production of these crops to reap a better profit after completing harvest before the commencement of the rainy season," Nur Hossain added.