RANGPUR, Oct 24, 2022 (BSS) - After getting repeated bumper output with
lucrative prices in recent years, many people are expanding pumpkin
cultivation on char land and dried-up riverbeds to change fortunes in Rangpur
agriculture region this season.
   

Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said char people
and farmers affected by recent floods are farming pumpkins with other winter
crops adopting mixed-relay and intercropping methods to reap more profits.
 

"Char residents, farmers and riverside people are sowing seeds of pumpkin and
other Rabi crops on char lands and dried-up riverbeds," Additional Director
of the DAE for Rangpur region Mohammad Shah Alam said.
 

The DAE, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institution (BARI), RDRS Bangladesh
and other NGOs are extending assistance to char people to promote crop
cultivation on sandy char lands and dried-up riverbeds this time like in the
previous years.
 

Responding to the direction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to bring every
inch of land under crop farming amid the global crises caused by the Covid-19
pandemic and Russia-Ukraine War, char dwellers are bringing more char lands
under crop cultivation.
 

Tender plants of pumpkin are growing superbly amid favorable climatic
conditions on char lands predicting its bumper production this season to
bring more profits to char people and make them self-reliant.
 

"Harvest of early varieties of pumpkin will begin from late November next on
char lands and dried-up riverbeds where sowing of seeds of winter crops,
including vegetables, still continues in all five districts of the region,"
Alam added
 

According to officials of RDRS Bangladesh, Solidarity, Plan Action Bangladesh
and other NGOs, many char and riverside families have changed fortunes
through farming pumpkins with other crops on dried-up riverbeds and char
lands in recent years.
 

Char people are cultivating pumpkins on more char lands and silted-up beds of
the Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Dudhkumar, Teesta, Dharla, Kartoa, Ghaghot and other
rivers to complete harvesting of the crop by May next before the start of the
rainy season.
 

Talking to BSS, Anwar Hossain, Abdur Razzaque and Mahbub Alam of Char Paschim
Mohipur village in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur narrated their success
stories of winning poverty through farming pumpkins with other crops in
recent years.
 

They are expanding cultivation of pumpkin with other crops like onion,
garlic, banana, vegetables, green chili, squash, potato, brinjal, sweet
potato and other Rabi crops on the sandy char lands and dried-up riverbeds
this season.
 

"We generally 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.
 

Hossain Ali of Dhushmara Char in Kawnia upazila of Rangpur said he has
cultivated pumpkins with other crops like banana, onion, garlic, vegetables,
green chili, potato and brinjal on char lands and dried-up riverbeds like
many others of his village.
 

"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 to earn lucrative profits this time," said Abdur Rahim of the
same village.