15,000 hectares uncultivated land to be made arable in Ctg

The district administration has taken an initiative to make about 15,000 hectares of uncultivated land arable in different upazilas of Chattogram.

The administration has already started identifying the uncultivated land and taking initiative to cultivate different crops there including vegetables.

As per the government directive, the district administration has sent a notice to upazila level saying that lands that have been left uncultivated for more than three consecutive years will be recorded as khas land (government-owned fallow land).

Mentioning that Bangladesh is going through difficult times, PM Sheikh Hasina on 8 November instructed the cabinet secretary to find the uncultivated lands all over the country and make them arable with the help of Deputy Commissioners (DCs).

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) of Chattogram district, the total cultivable land in the district is 228,966 hectares. Of them, the actual arable land is 214,810 hectares. The remaining 14,156 hectares are left fallow throughout the year.

Chattogram DAE Deputy Director Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman said, "The lands remain fallow due to a lack of irrigation facilities, late planting of seedlings and harvesting problems. We are taking measures to solve the problems, including irrigation facilities."

Based on crop production, the agricultural seasons are divided into three parts- Kharif-1 (mid-March to mid-July), Kharif-2 (mid-July to mid-November) and Rabi (mid-Nov to mid-March). The amount of arable land and fallow land fluctuates season to season as farmers cultivate crops as per their needs and financial aspects.

In the Kharif-1 season, the amount of arable land is 93,882 hectares and 120,928 hectares of land remains fallow. In the Kharif-2 season, 213,954 hectares of land are cultivated. The remaining fallow land is 856 hectares. Besides, farmers cultivate crops in 157,358 hectares of land in the Rabi season and 57,452 hectares of land remains fallow, according to the data of Chattogram DAE office.

Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mominur Rahman told The Business Standard, "A public notification will be circulated stating that if the agricultural lands owned by individuals are left fallow for three consecutive years, those will be recorded as government land."

All uncultivated lands and mono-crop lands in the district will be converted to two-cropped ones and two-cropped lands to three-cropped ones. Government incentives, oilseeds, like mustard and sesame, have been distributed to farmers, he added.

"Vegetable seedlings and fruit seedlings will be planted in the fallow lands from next week. We will redecorate the uncultivated lands with green crops, vegetables and fruits in the next one to one and a half months," he added.