S Dilip Roy

Around two lakh mustard growers in five districts of Rangpur division are unhappy with the market price.

Ahead of festivals like Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, and Durga Puja, local shoemakers like Dhaneshwar Chandra Rabidas, 50, usually pass a busy time making handmade shoes, some even customised to the buyer’s preferences.

Nur Islam, 70, a marginal farmer in Kurigram, one of the most poverty-prone regions of Bangladesh, was overcome with excitement when he learnt on Monday that Bhutan would be setting up a special economic zone in the area.

Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI)  has filed cases against 105 brick kiln owners in the past three months in Rangpur division for manufacturing bricks below the standard size of 10x5x3 inches.

The lone park for children in Lalmonirhat town, established on a land of Bangladesh Railway beside Lalmonirhat Railway Station, is now being used for dumping garbage and grazing cattle.

The sands of the Brahmaputra river has been found to contain six types of mineral resources, according to scientists of the Institute of Mining, Mineralogy and Metallurgy (IMMM) in Joypurhat. .Their discovery comes nearly five years after the collection of 2,500 tonnes of sand from differ

It was only a few months ago when Jahid Hasan Basunia first started cultivating strawberries, but none of his neighbours had the idea on how to grow the juicy fruit.

In nearly 3,000 stone-crushing plants surrounding Burimari and Sonahat land ports, thousands of women labour alongside men. They put in the same hours from 9:00am to 5:00pm daily. However, a pay disparity persists, as female workers receive Tk 400 while their male counterparts’ earn Tk 500 daily.

Bhutan plans to set up a special economic zone in Kurigram district in the northern region of Bangladesh.

The 100-kilometre-long Lalmonirhat-Burimari Highway has become highly dangerous for vehicular movement.

Farmers in Rangpur division are happy with high price for their potato harvest this season.

Although the cultivation of cotton is on rising as growers look to meet a portion of local demand and reduce dependence on imports, growers are unsatisfied with the low prices of the white fibre on the domestic market.

A troubling trend is taking root in the northern region of the country, particularly in districts like Rangpur and Lalmonirhat.

Dahagram, which used to be a Bangladeshi enclave inside Indian territory, was turned into a union parishad after exchange of enclaves between the two countries in 2015.

A rare paddy variety, which is cultivated in the remote shoals of  Brahmaputra basin under Kurigram district, is slowly but surely making its marks in the country’s rice market.

Ratna Akhter, a 15-year-old student of grade nine, previously used kerosene lamps when studying at home in Ghughumari, a remote char in northern Bangladesh with about 2,300 inhabitants.

In the remote villages of Kantapara, Jhaukuti, Char Gorakmandal, Paschim Phulmati, Jamakuti, and Kalabagan, nestled along the Baromasia river in Kurigram’s Phulbari, stands a 40-foot-long bamboo bridge that has become the lifeline for over 10,000 residents.

Braving the bitter morning cold, Majibur Rahman went to his field in Chinatuli char on Teesta river in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila’s Rajpur union.

Dense fog and low temperatures are disrupting agricultural work across the northern districts of Kurigram and Lalmonirhat as a cold wave persists in the region.

Despite the risks to soil and the environment, tobacco companies are encouraging farmers in Lalmonirhat to expand tobacco cultivation this year. Influenced by previous profits, farmers are now choosing new areas for planting tobacco seedlings.