Photo: BSS

By Md Mamun Islam
 
RANGPUR, Aug 21, 2026 (BSS) - As in previous years, people living along the char areas and river banks of the Rangpur agricultural region are preparing to resume cultivation of various crops on char lands from the end of September next.
 
The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) officials said people will start cultivating crops on char lands only after the monsoon season ends from late September to early October, unless there are any untimely floods or oddly heavy rains.
 
Due to the massive accumulation of silt during floods, people in the char areas will start sowing crop seeds in the char lands and dried-up riverbeds of the rivers in the Brahmaputra basin.
 
Additional Director of the DAE for Rangpur region Agriculturist Md Shirajul Islam told BSS that farmers are likely to begin cultivation of winter crops from late September to early October after the rainy season is over as in previous years. 
 
Earlier by last May, char people completed harvesting of their cultivated crops in the char areas and got bumper yields and good market prices this year.
 
In the char lands, cultivation of various crops including peanuts, potatoes, onions, garlic, vegetables, pumpkins, squash, green chilies and others generally begins in late September and harvesting begins in early December and continues until May of the following year.
 
Shirajul Islam said that excellent production of various crops in char lands keeps the char economy alive, bringing fortune to many families under adverse situations.
 
"In the coming season, char people will cultivate various types of winter crops, mostly adopting intercropping and mixed-relay methods and applying organic fertilizers, to produce healthier and more nutritious crops," he said. 
 
In the last 2025-2026 Rabi season, people living in the char and river banks cultivated crops on more than 82,000 hectares of charlands in the five districts of Rangpur, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Nilphamari in this region.
 
They mostly cultivated Boro rice, potatoes, sweet pumpkin, squash, brinjal, onion, garlic, green chilli, gourd, bitter gourd, carrot, banana, mustard, pulses, cauliflower, cabbage, peanuts, wheat and many other crops in the char land.
 
"Char people are producing around six lakh metric tonnes of crops worth about Taka 1,200 crore from 82,000 hectares of char lands in the region yearly in recent times," he said, adding that crop cultivation in char lands has been increasing every year. 
 
The vast char areas, dry riverbeds and floodplains of the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla, Dudhkumar, Ghaghat, Jamuna, Kartoa and other rivers are being practically converted into agricultural lands where a variety of crops are being cultivated in the dry season.
 
Talking to BSS, couple Shahinur Islam and Fancy Begum of Char Purbo Mohipur of Gangachara upazila in Rangpur said they will cultivate pumpkin, 'Khira', green chilli, maize and other crops on two acres of the dried-up beds of the Teesta this time.
 
"Last season, we sold harvested 'Khira', pumpkin and other crops at Taka 3.50-lakh and earned a net profit of around Taka two lakh excluding all expenses after completing harvest by May this year," said Fancy Begum.
 
Similarly, Nur Hossain, Anwar Hossain, Mohibur Rahman of the village said, like last season, they will cultivate winter onions, pumpkin, 'Khira', green chilli, maize and other crops on the dried-up beds of the Teesta this year. 
 
Aminul Islam and Ummey Kulsum, a couple from Char village in Shahbaz Taluk of Kawnia upazila in Rangpur, said that this season they will cultivate pumpkin, peanuts, onions, garlic and various vegetables on two acres of land in the dried up char of Teesta.
 
"We have been getting repeated bumper production of our cultivated various crops on char lands during the winter to earn better profits and enrich our fortunes along with keeping the char economy alive," Aminul Islam added.