Pumpkin farming uplifts Rangpur agro-economy

Pumpkin cultivation on char lands has uplifted the agro-economy in Rangpur agriculture region and changed the fortune of over 50,000 landless families in the last 15 years.

The families living in the river basin of Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Gaibandha districts of Rangpur agriculture region, have changed their lot through pumpkin cultivation on the sandbars, said local sources.

They get benefits from farming as the product has got huge demand locally and internationally.

Once tobacco was cultivated on a large scale of land in the areas. The farmers almost have left tobacco cultivation as they are getting more benefits from pumpkin cultivation by using modern technology, said Badsha Miah, 60 a farmer of Chalapak Char in Gojoghanta union under Gangachara upazila of Rangpur district.

In the dry season, the landless and vulnerable farmers have been cultivating HYV pumpkin in the sandy lands along the riverside on a large scale for the last six years and have almost succeeded to change their fortune. The product being transported elsewhere in the country and even exported to International markets- Malaysia and Singapore.

They cultivate the vegetable on more char lands and silted-up beds of the Teesta, Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Dudhkumar, and Dharla rivers to complete harvesting of the crop by May next before the start of the rainy season.

Farmer Alema Begum of Chalapak Char in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur said she lost her croplands in the river. The cultivation of pumpkins with other crops on the char lands has changed her livelihood in recent years. She has cultivated pumpkin on 25 bighas of char lands and sold around Tk 15 lakhs this year. She had to spend only Tk 5 lakhs for farming.

“We usually have to spend Tk15,000 to 20,000 for farming pumpkins on 200 sandbars each and sell the produce at Tk 45,000 to 55,000 and earn a net profit of Tk 30,000 to Tk 35,000 annually after completing harvest by May every year,” said another farmer Mahbub Alam.

Hasan Ali, a farmer of Dhushmara Char under Kawnia upazila of Rangpur said, the farmers can cultivate other crops beside pumpkin. He has been cultivating pumpkins with other crops like potato onion, garlic, vegetables, green chilli, and brinjal on char lands and dried-up riverbeds for years and gets benefits.

Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and NGOs said pumpkin cultivation in char lands in all five districts of Rangpur region has been increasing significantly for the last 15 years.

Making Markets Work for the Chars (M4C) funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Ministry of Local Government has been working in the char areas of Rangpur district since 2020 to improve the livelihood of the char people by providing technological support and market management for pumpkin cultivation.

Many of the Farmers said, two organisations –Rangpur Agro and M4C have been exporting the pumpkin to Malaysia and Singapore buying the product directly from the farmers.

The organisations received Tk 20 crore pumpkin export orders this year. The workers of the organisations remain busy packaging the product to export. They also transport the product to different districts across the country.

An official of Rangpur Agro, Habibur Rahman Ratan said, they have got Tk 20 crore pumpkin export orders from two countries this year. They are buying the product directly from the field of the char farmers at Tk 15-20 per kg price.

The vegetable of the char areas has got huge demand in Malaysia- Singapore and Middle Eastern countries. They have already exported products worth around Tk 6 crore during this time in the year.

Deputy Director DAE, Rangpur, Obaidur Rahman Mandol said many char people have become self-reliant by cultivating pumpkin along with sweet potato, banana and other crops.