Maize farming is expanding across Faridpur, including its char areas, and it is changing the fortunes of char dwellers and other farmers. Not long ago the char land produced few crops; hundreds of acres lay fallow and overgrown with weeds. Now that land is under maize, and the crop is offering char people the chance of a better life.

Maize has been grown across wide areas of Decreerchar, North Channel and Char Madhabdia unions of Faridpur Sadar upazila, which are surrounded by the Padma river. The chars no longer stay under water for most of the year as they once did; water now stays for three to four months. With the land dry for seven to eight months a year, and on higher ground for nine to ten months, maize is now grown two or three times a year depending on the land. This has increased cultivation of 120-day maize.

Livelihoods in the char areas once revolved around rearing cattle, goats, sheep, ducks and chickens, with people relying on naturally growing weeds to feed their animals. Several years ago some began growing maize to meet the demand for fodder. Around a dozen years ago they used maize plants as cattle feed, but maize cultivation has grown over roughly the past decade, and the lives of local people are gradually changing.

According to the district office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), maize cultivation has risen in the Faridpur chars and other areas over the past few years. In the 2023-24 season maize was grown on more than about 6,000 hectares, producing about 65,000 tonnes worth around Tk 200 crore. Most of this was on the Padma chars. In the current Kharif-2 season, the target was 440 hectares, but cultivation has already passed 2,000 hectares and is still continuing.

Nur Islam Molla of Decreerchar in Sadar upazila said: "More than 10 tonnes of maize are produced per hectare, so we are making a profit from maize. A few years ago a maund sold for Tk 500-600, but the price has risen. Now a maund of maize sells for Tk 1,200-1,500."

Khabir Sheikh, a maize grower in Char Madhabdia, said: "Although it costs Tk 10,000-12,000 to grow a hectare, on average maize worth Tk 40,000-45,000 is produced. Farmers are making a good profit compared with other crops."

Rustam Ali of North Channel complained: "Some traders go to the chars to buy maize from farmers, but there are very few of them. So we still have to take it to distant towns to sell, and farmers face all sorts of hassle. If a maize market could be created in the char area, farmers would be keener to grow it."

Md Rafiqul Islam, deputy director of the DAE in Faridpur, said: "No part of maize is wasted. The lower part is used as fuel, the upper part as cattle feed, and the cobs as human food and as feed for various animals and birds. Over the past few years maize cultivation has increased in various parts of the district besides the chars."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.