Many potato farmers across Bangladesh are incurring losses this season despite a bumper harvest and the highest exports in three years, as a steep drop in domestic prices has left them unable to recover even their production costs.
Nur Islam has been selling tea at the same humble price for decades
Tea production in the northern plains dropped by nearly 20 percent in 2024, as erratic rainfall, poor market prices, and irregularities in factory accounting took a toll on the sector.
Local folklore suggests that a person named Sheikh Malek Uddin Akheruzzaman constructed the mosque
Cultivation of wheat has hit the lowest on record in the current season in Bangladesh as many producers opted to grow potato and other high-value crops on land previously used for the second most important staple food after rice.
In addition to its lush tea gardens and the breathtaking view of the majestic Kanchenjunga, blooming tulips have emerged as another jewel in Panchagarh’s winter landscape -- but only as a tourist attraction, as farmers struggle to maintain cultivation and earn a profit.
"It's nearly impossible to stay outside in this relentless cold blowing in from the north," said a local.
Most of the land in Rangpur’s Panchagarh and Thakurgaon districts, particularly those that border India, were non-arable just a few decades ago, when the region closely resembled a desert of sand and stone.
Potatoes produced by contract growers of the Bangladesh Agricultural Corporation (BADC) are now being exported to Malaysia, a development that is likely to encourage farmers to improve the quality of their produce in order to reap fair prices.
Boutique operators in eight northern districts are worried about their survival as they now fear counting huge losses for the second year in a row due to the ongoing pandemic.
In 1971, when Salahuddin’s life ended, he was only eighteen. But before breathing his last, the young man won hearts of patriots by being a shining example of courage and stoicism in the face of barbaric torture by the occupation forces of Pakistan.
With an aim to flourish tourism in Panchagarh district, ‘Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Square’ is being constructed at Banglabandha in Tentulia upazila.
This season farmers in the district have recorded the highest production of Aush paddy in the last 20 years due to favourable weather.
Female small entrepreneurs running boutiques in eight northern districts are counting heavy losses after missing out on the year’s two most lucrative selling periods due to the Covid-19 shutdown.
Cattle markets of Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts pose high risks during the ongoing community transmission of Covid-19 as social distancing and hygiene issues are hardly maintained.
Amid high demand for wheat in the local market, the government’s procurement programme is failing to attract local growers, who witnessed a better yield this year.
A group of youths in Thakurgaon town are being praised for their non-profit initiative named ‘30% discount store’.
