‘Banana bonanza’ in Ishwardi char areas

Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
Settlement in char area of Lakshikunda union under Ishwardi Upazila was almost zero as there was just sand and pebbles everywhere even just a few years ago. However, the image of char land has changed drastically within two or more years. Now the entire char is surrounded by greenery. At first there were mud houses, but now there are paved houses. There are roads. The children of the area have progressed in education. The land is cultivated in a modern way. Farmers use tractors. Now there is no uncultivated pasture land. In a word, Baluchar has become an important Area.
According to the locals, a resident of Lakshikunda, former land minister late Shamsur Rahman Sharif was elected as a member of the national parliament for five consecutive times since 1996, and the image of the remote Char area have changed. Cultivation has boomed in Char area. Bananas have played a role in changing the fortunes of Char people. In the beginning, arable crops such as groundnut were cultivated in this pasture. But luck did not return. Then people started the banana cultivation. And this has changed the whole life system of Char residents. Thanks to bananas, the Padma River has now turned green. Various types of bananas including Sabari, Sagar, Amritsagar are cultivated commercially here. The township is busy with activities of hundreds of people including banana farmers, day laborers, traders, car drivers and workers. Banana cultivation has changed the image of the entire grassland. Socio-economic development has taken place across the town like a dream. Instead of mud house, now many people have built a roofed house. Farmers have bought modern agricultural machinery including tractors. Many have become land owners by cultivating bananas on lease.
Lakshikunda chairman Anisur Rahman Sharif said that the image of the union has changed due to the efforts of the late former land minister. Extensive development has been achieved including roads. Once upon a time there used to be murders and vandalism over grazing lands, they have also stopped. People’s lifestyle has changed. Motorcycles are used in every houses. As the education rate has increased, the children of the area have become doctors, engineers, judges.
He also said that the fortunes of the people of the area have changed by cultivating bananas commercially in the once barren hundreds of hectares of grassland.