New road reshapes Ghaznar Beel into a booming agricultural landscape

PABNA, Oct 14: Noticeable development of the communication system with the construction of a regional road has remodeled the onion-dominated Ghaznar Beel area of Sujanagar upazila in Pabna district into a far promising agricultural landscape.

The widely-built modern road has reduced the farmers' sufferings in transporting crops from the fields and selling them in the markets.

Sources said, crops from about 4,500 hectares of land in Ghaznar Beel are marketed easily by using the road.

The new road structure has ensured fair price for the farmers' produces and has laid a positive impact on the agricultural and socio-economic system of the area.

In addition to presenting a stunning beauty of nature, Ghaznar Beel in Sujanagar upazila is a vast storehouse of fish and agricultural resources.

After jute is harvested in the summer, delicious natural fish are found in the water of the beel filled with monsoon water, and Aman paddy is also cultivated. And after the monsoon, the cash crop, onion, is cultivated on thousands of bighas of land in the vast wilderness of the beel.

The communication system was in a critical condition in this prosperous agricultural domain, where the economy and social structure are heavily based on the ownership and use of farmland.

Local farmers used to suffer acutely every day while transporting agricultural produce on the old, narrow and dilapidated road from Manikhat in Ghaznar Beel to Binyadangi.

Now, with the efforts of the Local Government Engineering Department, the 18-foot-wide and nearly five-kilometer-long paved road has been reconstructed at a cost of Tk 100 million (Tk10 crore).

According to competent sources, 75 percent of the total onion produced in Pabna district, known as the 'capital of onions', is cultivated in the lands of Ghaznar Beel in Sujanagar.

Last year too, farmers used to suffer heavily in bringing onions from the fields due to the inconveniences in road communication.

Farmers from at least 10 villages including Binyadangi, Bankhola, Nazirganj, Ulat, Manikhat, Bamundi and Paikpara used to be deprived of fair prices when taking onions to the markets due to the additional cost of transportation and labour. To sell onions, they had to take them to the distant Sujanagar, Chinakhara or Kashinathpur markets.

As the newly-built wide road has made communication easier, trading now takes place in the village markets.

Sometimes, wholesalers take agricultural produces from the fields to the markets by using trucks, for which farmers are largely benefiting.

Md. Raziur Rahman, a farmer from Khairan area, told the FE, "This time the price of jute is better than other times.Transportation costs are also lower.Earlier, it was difficult for autos to enter this area.Now, large vehicles including trucks are being taken directly from homes to the market after loading jute. Car rental is also 20-25 per cent less than before. The cost of bringing and taking jute before and after washing has also reduced.This requires 2-3 fewer laborers per kilo."

Shahadat Hossain, a farmer from Ulat village, said, "Onion and paddy cultivation is the main source of income for this village and the surrounding areas. Even at the beginning of the last onion growing season, it was very difficult to take onions to the market from here. From here, it had to be taken by horse-drawn carts and boats-vans to Khairan Bridge. Jute, onions and paddy had to be brought on the head from the fields. But now that suffering is gone with the development of the new road. Now the onion market is being held in Ulat because the road is good."

Rakiblul Hasan, son of a farmer family, is involved in farming at home along with his studies and other works.

In this context, Rakib said, "We had to take onions or paddy from Ulat to Chinakhara market in several stages, including taking them in horse-drawn carts or foot-drawn vans. Taking them to the market in this way cost about Tk 35-40 per sack of two maunds of the crop. But due to the modern regional road, regular markets are being held in Ulat because of the interest of the traders."

He also said that not only here, but also crops from all areas of Bankola, Nazirganj and Satbaria unions are now going to Chinakhara, Kashinathpur and Bongram markets through this road.

"This has greatly benefited the farmers. Now we will be happy if the government only ensures fair prices for agricultural produces," he added.

Along with the development of the agricultural economy, the road has also laid a great impact on the socio-economic aspects.

Mohammad Nurullah, a teacher at Ulat Fazil Madrasa, told the FF, "Student attendance in schools and madrasas is also increasing. Earlier, due to the narrow and dilapidated road in these areas, it took more time for the administration officials to enter for any reason. But now these problems are gone."

Monirul Islam, executive engineer of the Pabna Local Government Engineering Department, said that cash crops including onion, paddy and jute are cultivated in large quantities in the beel of Ghazna. Garlic and other vegetables are also cultivated here without tillage. But since the communication system was not that developed, there was an obstacle in bringing the agricultural produces from the fields and marketing them.

To solve such problems, the road was reconstructed at a cost of Tk100 million (Tk 10 crore) in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

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