Pilot palm tree cultivation project launched in Jessore

  • 27/08/2008

  • New Age (Bangladesh)

A pilot palm tree cultivation project was launched in Jessore on Saturday with a view to encouraging farmers to plant palm trees in a larger way. The commander of the joint force, Lieutenant Colonel M Tanvir Iqbal, inaugurated the project in a ceremony held on the premises of Jhikargachha upazila office. The deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Khairul Islam, among others, attended the programme. Under the project, 7.5 bighas of land will be brought under palm tree cultivation in sadar upazila, 30 bighas in Jhikargachha, 17 bighas in Chougachh, six bighas in Bagharpara, 11.5 bighas in Sharsa and 27.14 bighas in Keshabpur upazila. A total of 1905 saplings of palm trees were planted in the upazilas on the first day. The project has been taken in the district as soil here is suitable for cultivation of palm trees, DAE sources said. The DAE hopes that cultivation of palm trees will greatly benefit farmers in the district and it would also contribute to reducing edible price in the country.