Our Correspondent :
The greenery in char area of Brahmaputra River in Gafargaon Upazila under Mymensingh district has spreaded across the vast plains. The green leaves are playing like small waves of the sea. And the dream of the farmers is swaying in the waves of such green sea. This time bumper crop of sweet pumpkin has been harvested on the sand char of Brahmaputra. The shelf of the Brahmaputra is no longer a curse. Thousands of farmers across the Brahmaputra have now turned to cultivating sweet pumpkins on the shelf. Not only farmers but also locals have been fascinated by the aesthetic beauty of pumpkins in Balu Char. Even the passers-by are stopping to see this scene. Many farmers have become self-sufficient by cultivating sweet pumpkins with less time and less investment.
Sweet pumpkin is a well-known vegetable all over the world. The biggest virtue of this delicious vegetable is its richness in vitamins. So many vitamin A minerals are not found in any other vegetable. This vegetable prevents cancer, heart disease, lowers high blood pressure, increases the digestion of pregnant mothers and pumpkin iron helps to give oxygen to the baby and prevents anemia of the mother, brightens the skin, eliminates the problem of burns and keeps the eyes well. This nutritious vegetable has been widely cultivated in the char areas of Gafargaon.
The shelf on which it has never been possible to grow any crop is covered with greenery with pumpkin trees on the hot sand.
Farmers are cultivating pumpkins in 320 hectares of land on the banks of Brahmaputra river this season. Farmers are cultivating only sweet pumpkins on sand pastures across the horizon as they are more profitable at a lower cost than other crops. However, besides sweet pumpkins, farmers are also benefiting by cultivating different types of vegetables in this dhu-dhu sand char.
Going to the Brahmaputra river char area of Tangab union of the upazila, it is seen that the farmers are spending their busy time in cultivating the cultivated sweet pumpkin and other vegetables. The whole char area has been touched by green. Besides, sweet pumpkins have also been planted in large numbers in the chars of Charalgi and Dutt Bazar Unions of the upazila. Especially in Tangab Union, sweet pumpkin has been planted on a large scale.
Now the farmers are happy with the bumper harvest as well as the celebration of sweet pumpkin fields across the horizon of the upazila. Sweet pumpkin cultivation has brought new momentum to agricultural lands that depend only on paddy cultivation. The sweet pumpkins produced in this upazila are being exported to different parts of the country including the capital Dhaka.
At present, sweet pumpkins are being widely grown in Bakhali, Bashia and Tangab villages of Tangab Union, Charshankhchura, Khurshid Mahal, Gavishimul villages of Panchbagh Union, Balua Kanda, Jayarchar and Charalgi villages of Charalgi Union and in the remote areas of Dutt Bazar Union.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Anwar Hossain said the bumper crop of sweet pumpkins has been harvested in several unions including Tangab, Charalgi, Niguari and Dutt’s Bazar.
Israel Mridha, Farid Uddin, Abul Hossain, Masud Hasan, Sufal Mia and Eklach Uddin of Basman village of Tangab union said that many farmers including Tara have benefited from sweet pumpkin cultivation in the union. They cultivate this crop with the inspiration and advice of the local agriculture department.
