Ground nut changing socio-economic life of ‘Char’ people in Faridpur

FE Team | Published: January 21, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

FARIDPUR, Jan 20 (BSS): The cultivation of ground nut in the vast 'Char land' of the district embraced by the Padma, Madhumati and Kumar rivers has substantially changed the socio-economic life of thousands living there.
According to official sources, only a decade back the Char people mostly affected by the river erosion had to rush to towns for earnings either as day labor or pulling rickshaws or vans now found a hope of survival by growing ground nut without much investment and hassle.
According to some farmers who are involved with this silent economic revolution ground nut cultivation requires minimum investment, minimum labor and minimum time for harvesting and marketing.
Another advantage in ground nut cultivation is that no natural calamities except flood can damage this crop.
The farmers said it does not require any fertilizer, irrigation or pesticide rather simply after sowing after roughly fifty days the whole char area looks green as the farmers have termed it as 'green gold' which has brought their fortune after they became misfortunate and pauper with the severe loss due to river erosion where they also lost their homesteads and crop field.
A farmer Abul Sheikh told BSS that just ten years back they lost all hopes of survival but this 'green gold' has ushered new hope of life.
Char land which is mostly sandy with little alluvial soil is not fit for any other crop except ground nut. Moreover the price of ground nut is increasing rapidly bringing more profits.
According to District Agricultural Extension (DAE) office sources, in six upazilas out of nine upazilas the target of ground nut cultivation has been fixed at 5,107 hectares of char land with the aim of producing 8937 metric tons.
An environmentalist Gazi Shahiduzzaman told that ground nut cultivation has no adverse impact on environment rather its green plants help maintain ecological balance in the area.