A few upazilas of Tangail district are surrounded by the Jamuna and Dhaleshwari rivers. Once the Jamuna and Dhaleshwari rivers were mighty. At present, many sandy chars have emerged on the rivers. The chars remained fallow for many years.
But now the chars give a spectacular look as different crops like paddy, maize, vegetables, and groundnut are seen from a far distance.
The main portion of Nagorpur upazila surrounded by the Jamuna and Dhaleshwari is char land.
There is a vast tract of char land from Shahjani to Khogenghat. Local farmers and landless ultra-poor people are cultivating groundnut on the char land.
Local farmers' sources said groundnut cultivation is easier.
People plough the land once or twice and after that, they spread the seeds. There is no need for irrigation and fertiliser or insecticide. As the market price of groundnut is good, it is a profitable crop for the farmers.
Ayub Ali, a farmer of Shahajani village under Nagorpur upazila, said he cultivated groundnut with some of his friends. They cultivated groundnut on about 400 decimals of sandy char land. In the meantime, they have already harvested the main portion of the crops and the rest will be harvested very soon. They are happy with the production of the crops.
They got a handsome profit from that unproductive sandy land and they are becoming self-reliant.
In the current year, the price of groundnut is very good. Per kg nut is being sold at a local market at Tk 70 to 75 as per quality, market sources said.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Tangail sources said farmers of the district brought a total of 2804 hectares of land under groundnut cultivation which is double than that of the last year and farmers have got a bumper production.
Agriculturist Khandakar Shafiqur Rahman said sandy land is suitable for groundnut cultivation.
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