Over 20,000 extremely poor families, mostly landless and erosion victims, living in remote sandy-barren charlands on the Brahmaputra basin have changed their fates through farming pumpkin in recent years.
These char people, mostly landless and distressed women, are now leading better life through pumpkin (sweet gourd) cultivation with the assistances of different NGOs in the char areas of the riverine districts in the river basin.
The NGOs have been extending assistances, creating marketing facilities and providing seeds, fertilisers to the char people to assist them winning over abject poverty to ensure their food security and livelihoods through adapting with climate change impacts.
Agriculture and Environment Coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh Mamunur Rashid said the NGO have been extending assistances to more than 2,500 extremely poor families living in the remote char areas for farming pumpkin in recent year.
These families have been sowing pumpkin seeds and they will harvest the crop from May next to get huge profits in Gangachara and Kawnia upazilas of Rangpur, Sadar and Nageswari upazilas of Kurigram, Sadar and Aditmari upazilas of Lalmonirhat, he said.
Talking to BSS, erosion victim Chan Mina, 63, of Dhushmara Char in Kawnia upazila said he sowed 250 pumpkin plants on charlands this year, He had sold 1,650 pumpkins at Taka 500,000 to earn net profit of Taka 60,000 after selling all his produce last year.
Mostafizar Rahman, 47, and widow Amena Begum, 45, of village Char Nazirdaho said they have cultivated pumpkin on 180 and 75 decimals charlands respectively. They earned huge profits last year through selling their products at Taka 80,000 and 43,000 respectively.
Landless char dwellers Golzar Hossain, 55, Aminul Islam, 42, Ambia Khatun, 27, Jyotsna Begum, 33, and many others of village Dhushmara Char narrated similar success stories of attaining economic self-reliance after winning over poverty. -BSS, Rangpur
