Photo : BSS

GAIBANDHA, OCT 31, 2025 (BSS) - Flood-resilient vegetable farming is becoming popular among the inhabitants of chars located in the Teesta and Brahmaputra river basins of 18 unions under four upazilas, as the method is profitable, sustainable, and risk-free.

After talking to char people who are growing vegetables using the method, it was learned that 165 chars in the district experience monsoon and seasonal floods every year.

Due to floods, vegetables and other crops produced on char land are washed away, making crop producers more worried about their food security.

Taking this into view, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and the Gaibandha-based non-government development organization SKS Foundation jointly initiated flood-tolerant vegetable farming using this method for char people of the district.

Accordingly, this method is being popularized among the affected char people to help them mitigate the negative impacts of floods and economic losses.

Till October 2025, a number of farmers have grown vegetables using the method.

“The vegetables we produce are meeting our family’s needs and also helping us earn income by selling the surplus,” said Saidul Islam, a char farmer of Horipur Union under Sundarganj Upazila.

After talking to him about this method, it was learnt that a wooden frame is used to create a high platform that remains above floodwater. Sacks filled with soil are then placed in a row on the platform, and seeds of various vegetables are sown in the soil to achieve the desired yield.

At present, the enthusiastic char farmers are successfully cultivating ginger, bottle gourd, pumpkin, cucumber, and eggplant using this method.

Seeing successful vegetable farming by this method, the housewives of the chars are showing interest and great enthusiasm in farming vegetables this way, said Nurul Huda, sub-assistant agriculture officer of DAE working at Horipur Union.

Mozaharul Islam, chairman of Horipur Union Parishad, said the method is being extended to char farmers in the union because it is a flood-tolerant and low-risk approach to vegetable farming.

As the platform does not go under water during floods and there is no possibility of crop damage due to floodwater, the method has become even more acceptable to the char people, he added.

Md Saiduzzaman, chairman of Mollarchar Union Parishad under Sadar Upazila, said that like the farmers of other unions, farmers in his union have started vegetable farming in sacks placed on platforms that are not submerged during floods.

“As it is a risk-free method for sustainable vegetable farming, the char people have accepted it with great enthusiasm,” he added.

Assistant Coordinator (Public Relations) of SKS Foundation, Ashraful Alom, said measures have been taken to expand the method to all chars in the district in the coming seasons.

M Asaduzzaman, Additional Deputy Director, who is also the District Training Officer of DAE here, said that earlier, enthusiastic char farmers were provided with need-based training on vegetable farming using this method at the initiative of DAE in cooperation with SKS Foundation. Till October 2025, as many as 168 char farmers have cultivated vegetables this season using the method.