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.
A riverine country like Bangladesh is host to hundreds of chars (shallow lands in the river that rise when the water level decreases), which in turn are home to millions of people. Their remote locations and lack of communication means an average person living in a village nearby might not be aware of everything happening in these chars.
Sixty-seven-year-old Idris Ali is a farmer living at a remote char in Rolakata area on the Brahmaputra bed. He has to travel to Jatrapur market of Kurigram Sadar upazila every day because of his work and to buy essentials for his family.