The farmers of char areas of Daulatpur, Shibalaya and Harirampur Upazilas of the district are happy for getting bumper output of groundnut as its harvesting has started on the barren chars during the current Kharif-1 season.


With the rising of water level of the river Jamuna and Padma, the char area of the three upazilas of the district is continuing to inundate. So the groundnut cultivators are passing busy time to harvest their products from the low land.
 
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) officials here said that the groundnut is generally cultivated on the sandy land.
 
Experimentally, some local farmers started cultivation of groundnut on their barren land which would remain fallow all over the year in the char areas for the last few years, they said, adding that seeing their success, a number of farmers now are cultivating groundnut in the vast char areas of the Jamuna and the Padma rivers.
 
The char farmers are getting fair prices of the crop between Tk. 2500 and 3000 per mound as per its quality while it has high demand in the local markets.
 
DAE office sources said they set a target of groundnut cultivation on 2600 hectares of land in the chars of three upazilas of the district, but more than 2700 hectares of land has already been cultivated during the Kharif-1 season, exceeding its fixed target.
 
Rifazuddin, one of the groundnut cultivators of Char kalikapur of Baghutia union of Daulatpur upazila, said he had cultivated groundnut on two bighas of land this season and was getting expected production and prices.

Md Haidar Ali, another groundnut cultivator of Harirampur Upazila said groundnut cultivation is gaining popularity in the char areas as it grows in the sandy barren land and it needs no irrigation and fertilizer.
 
Now the groundnut became one of the cash crops for the char people, he said adding that groundnut is cultivated twice in the year in the winter and summer seasons.

The sources said the cultivators are getting opportunities to sell their crops at the nearest markets and even at their homes as a good number of buyers regularly visit the areas for searching the groundnuts.

Abu Mohammad Enayet Ullah, Deputy Director of the DAE, said the sandy land of char area is suitable for groundnut cultivation and its cultivation is gaining popularity in the three upazilas of the district day by day.

Source: BSS