Plan to cultivate high-valued crops in 60 upazilas

According to sources in the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), 60 upazilas of 16 northern districts of the country will be brought under the programme.

Shibganj and Nachole Upazila in Chapainwabganj district have also been included in the plan.

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The DAE, Proshika, an NGO, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) will jointly implement execute the programme.

Proshika will from groups from interested farmers having arable land between 50 to 3 acres for cultivating HVC.

Each group will consist of 15-25 farmers. DAE will impart training on production technology of High Value Crops and will distribute certificates among the trainees.

A Total of 540 farmers from Shibganj upazila and 270 from Nachole upazila will be imparted training in 18 and 9 batches respectively. Each batch will consist of 30 farmers.

Rakub will give loan to the trained farmers through NGOs. A farmer having a certificate in HVC training will get loan p to TK 20,000 for cultivating the crops.

LGED will create marketing infrastructure and the Department of Agriculture Marketing (DAM) will supply farmers with market information so that they can get the fair price of their products.

With a view to making the programme a success, the training of the farmers in the aforesaid upazilas has been going on in full swing, sources said.