Home ›› 20 Dec 2022 ›› Nation
Kans grass (Kaashphul ) has emerged as a significant source of income for many farmers in char areas of the Rangpur division where the perennial herb native to the Indian subcontinent grows easily on sandy soil.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) say the grass has helped bring prosperity to char farmers in the region as they can sell it alongside traditional crops.
It has also created employment opportunities for hard-core people and strengthened the rural economy.
With the recession of flood water, Kans seeds naturally germinate in the vast tracts of sandy char lands of the region.
The grass grows abundantly on around 15,000 hectares of land across 200 chars on Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Teesta and Dharla rivers flowing through Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Gaibandha districts.
Each bigha of land produces some 2,000 bundles of the straw-like material, called kashful in Bangladesh, with thousands of farmers in the region now fetching up to Tk 17 per bundle weighing around two kilogrammes. The farmers only need to spend on transportation and labour costs.
It is used as weaving materials for thatch roofs, sheds on betel leaf, and a sensitive crop to sunlight and rainfall. The char dwellers also use straws as firewood for their cooking.
Farmers in different char areas have expressed their joy and happiness over natural straw cultivation as it brings them passive benefits.
Jamal Miah, 55, a farmer of the Charjattrapur area under Kurigram Sadar upazila said, he got 12,000 bundles of straw from two acres of land this year.
“I did not have any investment for the cultivation. I sold the bundles for Tk 1, 90,000 in a local market spending a total of Tk 1,00,000 for harvesting and transporting the plant," he added.
He also said the farmers usually cannot grow other crops in the sandy char lands on the river bank. Kans grass grows naturally in the grounds after the flood and it helps the farmers’ lot to maintain their family,
Traders from Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal and other parts of the country visit the local markets in Rangpur to buy the grass. In the season at least 10-12 straw-laden trucks are sold at Jattrapur hat every week for transportation elsewhere, he added.
Day labourer Nuru Miah, 45, said making the straw bundle is a seasonal job. He has been engaged in the job for the last ten years. He earns at least Tk 500 in a day.
Kans trader Kader Miah said the seasonal business runs for four months from November to February every year which has brought a benefit for the char farmers who lost their lands in river erosion. It has also strengthened the rural economy creating job opportunities for the hard-core people living in the remote char areas.
Abul Miah, a wholesaler of straw in Showlmari areas under KaligAnj upazila in Lalmonirhat, said the traders sometimes give the char farmers advance payment to get the grass supply as the demand for the product has increased.
“We buy the product from the farmers to sell it to the betel leaf farmers in different parts of the country and earn a profit,” he added.
Badsha Miah, a farmer in the Mornear Char area on the bank of Teesta River under Gongachara upazila of the district said the price of the kans grass is high this year compared to the past years due to its growing demand among the betel-leaf farmers across
the country.
Additional Director, DAE, Rangpur, Agriculturist Md Emdad Hossain Sheikh said, the Kans grass grows naturally in the sandy char areas of the region and it brings solvency for many of the char farmers.
