Md Quamrul Islam Rubaiyat

At least 24 people died as a boat carrying passengers far beyond its capacity capsized in the Karatoa river in Panchagarh yesterday afternoon.

The government is struggling to fulfil the target of wheat procurement from the domestic market this season as growers are not showing interest to sell the food grain to the state at a lower price.

Small and marginal potato farmers in Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts have been left in a quandary as cold storage owners in the region are saying their spaces have been completely filled.

Mustard growers in Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts are elated thanks to the higher output in the ongoing harvesting season as well as the increased price of the cooking oil owing to rising consumption amid the volatile soybean oil market.

Tulips are being grown all over Sharialjoth village in Tentulia upazila of Rangpur’s Panchagarh district in a bid to increase tourism and boost the regional economy, according to local officials.

Potato growers of Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts are distraught over apprehensions of incurring huge losses for a second year in a row as the market has seen a sharp fall in prices.

Geyser, once thought to be a luxury item afforded only by the wealthy, is increasingly gaining popularity among lower and middle-income groups in Bangladesh as they heat water to beat winter.

The country’s northwestern region, which emerged as a tea producing zone in recent years, is expected to register record production of tea in 2021 thanks to favourable weather and growing interest among locals seeking to profit from rising internal consumption of tea.

Tourists from across the country are now flocking to Tetulia upazila in Panchagarh district in hopes of catching a glimpse of the peak of Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain.

Sweet orange grown in the country’s northern districts such as Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Dinajpur are dominating the local fruit market this season thanks to increased demand and reasonable prices.

Several hundred trucks have been waiting outside the Banglabandha land port for the past 12 days for space to be made available for exports to be offloaded on the Indian side.

‘Camellia Khola Akash School’ (Camellia Open Sky School), an innovative initiative of the Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB), is eying to create expert tea farmers, develop the skills of small-scale tea farmers and flourish tea cultivation in five northern districts including Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Nilphamary, Lalmonirhat and Dinajpur.

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.