Project underway to boost irrigation in northern Bangladesh

The government is planning to increase irrigation facilities across northern districts of Bangladesh, with the goal to produce an additional 3.26 lakh tonnes of crop in the region annually.

In this regard, the agriculture ministry recently launched a project titled “Irrigation Infrastructure Rehabilitation” to develop the irrigation system and facilitate expansion of irrigation management, a senior official of the Planning Commission told The Business Post.

The official added that the project’s goal is to increase irrigation through restoration of 6,654 old irrigation infrastructures, which will be used to irrigate 40,740 hectares of land for additional crop production.

This project will be implemented in 120 upazilas under 16 districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions.

Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) will implement the project by June 2026, and the estimated cost of Tk 323 crore will come from the state coffers, says the project proposal.

Under the project, 1,358 deep tube wells and 5,296 pump houses will be restored for irrigating croplands. Electricity connections will be provided to 1,358 irrigation tube wells. Of the pump houses, 2,309 will be rebuilt, and 2,987 will be renovated.

A Member of the Planning Commission, Ramendra Nath Biswas said, “Implementation of this project will increase crop production through expansion of irrigation facilities in the Barind area, which will contribute significantly towards poverty alleviation and self-sufficiency in food.

“As per the government’s 8th Five Year plan, the sustainable agriculture management system will be introduced to increase production and ensure food security.”

According to the project proposal, the BMDA is playing a key role in improving socio-economic conditions, including the development of irrigation systems in the Barind area. So far, 16,344 irrigation devices have been installed in this area under various projects since 1980.

The BMDA built underground irrigation systems of different lengths as part of these systems. Of those, UPVC underground irrigation canals with a length of 610m were constructed for each of the 9,000 irrigators.

Irrigation canals with a length of 610 metres are not sufficient to irrigate all the command areas of an irrigation system. In many cases, farmers are irrigating the land by constructing raw irrigation canals, mentions the project proposal.

This issue is increasing the production cost of crops, as well as wastage of agricultural land and irrigation water.