Many char people are happy getting bumper output of pumpkin with lucrative price this season to tackle the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic situation in Rangpur agriculture region, reports BSS.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and different NGOs said large-scale cultivation of pumpkin began on sandy char lands in the silted-up beds of different rivers in all five districts of the region since 2009.
Braving the COVID-19 pandemic situation, char people have cultivated pumpkin with other Rabi crops on char lands adopting intercropping and mixed relay methods this time to reap pleasing profits as harvest of the crop is nearing completion now.
The DAE, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institution (BARI), RDRS Bangladesh and other non-governmental organisations extended assistance to char people to promote cultivation of various crops, including pumpkin, on char lands.
Additional Director of the DAE for Rangpur region Agriculturist Khandker Abdul Wahed said cultivation of pumpkin with other crops on char lands is efficiently cutting poverty and improving livelihoods of many char people in recent years.
