RANGPUR, Jan 2, 2023 (BSS) - Many char people are happily reaping rewarding profits from pumpkin cultivation using intercropping and relay methods on char lands in all five districts of Rangpur agriculture region.
 
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said char people are getting lucrative prices of their newly harvested pumpkin cultivated on char lands to tackle the global crises caused by the Russia-Ukraine War and Covid-19 pandemic situation.
 
Additional Director of the DAE at its regional office Agriculturist Mohammad Shah Alam said hundreds of landless char and riverside people have cultivated pumpkins with other Rabi crops on char lands adopting intercropping and relay methods.
 
Like in the previous years, the government through the DAE provided special incentives and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute and different NGOs extended assistance to char people to promote crop cultivation on char lands this season.
 
Deputy Director (Leave Reserved) of the DAE at Khamarbari in Dhaka Abu Sayem said many poor char and riverside families have changed their fortune through farming pumpkins with other crops on dried-up riverbeds and char lands in the last 13 years.
 
"Hundreds of char people have sowed pumpkin seeds on sandy char lands and silted-up beds of the Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Dudhkumar, Teesta, Dharla, Kartoa, Ghaghot and other rivers to complete harvesting of the crops by May next," Sayem said.
 
They have already started harvesting pumpkins in Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Gaibandha districts of the region and selling every piece at rates between Taka 60 and 100 depending on size and varieties to lead a better life.
 
A number of char people told BSS that they have cultivated pumpkins, onion, maize, wheat, pulses, squash, garlic, vegetables, green chili, squash, potato, brinjal, sweet potato and many other Rabi crops on the sandy char lands and dried-up riverbeds.
 
Char and riverside people Kochhim Uddin, Abdur Razzaque, Kobiza Khatun and Morsheda Begum of village Paschim Mohipur in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur said they have won extreme poverty through pumpkin cultivation on char lands.
 
"We usually spend Taka 15,000 to 20,000 for farming pumpkin on 200 sandbars each to sell the produce at Taka 45,000 to 55,000 and earn a net profit of Taka 30,000 to 35,000 annually after completing harvest by May every year," said Mahbub Alam of the village.
 
Marginal farmers Abdur Rahim and Hossain Ali of Dhushmara Char village in Kawnia upazila of Rangpur said they have cultivated pumpkins with banana, onion, garlic, vegetables, green chili, potato and brinjal on char lands and dried-up riverbeds like many others.
 
"Everyone in our village is expanding cultivation of pumpkin with other winter crops adopting intercropping and mixed-relay methods on the dried-up sandy riverbeds and earning lucrative profits from harvesting pumpkin and other crops now," Rahim added.
 
Deputy Director of the DAE for Rangpur Agriculturist Md. Obaidur Rahman Mondal said the farming cost of pumpkin is low and farmers reap more profit from its cultivation with other winter crops on the sandy char lands and dried-up riverbeds.

"Char people have cultivated pumpkins on more char lands without using pesticides in many char villages of Gangachara, Kawnia and Pirgachha upazilas of Rangpur alone and are reaping excellent profits from harvesting pumpkins now," Rahman said.