RANGPUR, Apr 18 (BSS): The Pathways from Poverty (PFP) project has brought about a revolution in pumpkin production on the sandbars to change fortune of thousands of the river erosion victim extremely poor families in recent years.
Practical Action Bangladesh (PAB) has been implementing the project through the local NGOs in promoting sandbar cropping, mainly pumpkin cultivation in the silted-up bodies of different rivers in five districts of greater Rangpur since 2009 successfully.
Some 14,357 river erosion victim families, living by the riversides in Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Gaibandha districts, have changed fortune through pumpkin cultivation on sandbars with PFP assistance.
Earlier, these have-nots group landless families had to live in miseries on the riverside flood control embankments and highlands due to abject poverty for years together since becoming victims of river erosions. The Department for International Development of the UKaid under Stimulating Household Improvements Resulting in Economic Empowerment (SHIREE) project and Government of Bangladesh under the Economic Empowerment of the poorest project have been financing implementation of the PFP project.
Talking to the news agency, Manager (Agriculture) of PAB Nirmal Chandra Bepari said 14,357 project beneficiary households have so far achieved success in pumpkin cultivation on sandbars in 200 villages under 80 unions of 18 upazilas in these five districts.
Under the project, 7,595 families cultivated pumpkin on 2,842 acres of sandy barren char lands at 181 spots and produced 31,846 tonnes of the crop to earn Tk 240.9 million (24.09 crore) during three years period from 2009 to 2012 in the first phase.
Besides, 5,262 households cultivated pumpkin on 1,912 acres of sandy barren char lands at 153 spots and produced 17.790 tonnes of the crop to earn Tk 152.2 million during two years period from 212 to 2014 in the second phase.
Besides, 1,500 beneficiaries have cultivated pumpkin on sandbars in 345 acres of land in these districts this season as implementation of the project will end by December next this year, he said. Beneficiaries Mahbub Alam, Kochhim Uddin, Abdur Razzaque, Khobiza Begum and Morsheda of village Paschim Mohipur under Gangachara upazila in Rangpur narrated their success stories of winning over extreme poverty through pumpkin cultivation.
They have spent Tk 13,000 on an average each for cultivating pumpkin on 200 sandbars each this season to sell the produce at Tk 30,000 to earn net profit of Tk 17,000 by each of them after completing harvest by next month, they said.
