Arable lands give way to fish ponds

Areas of arable land in Kalai and Khetlal upazilas of Joypurhat see an alarming decline as many owners are digging ponds on their land for more profitable fish farming.

The trend poses a threat to crop production in the areas, said officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).

More than 350 large and small ponds have been dug on around 200 acres of land in these two upazilas since 2016, they said.

Abdur Razzak, a farmer of Matrai union in Kalai upazila, said land owners in his area are digging ponds on their croplands as they find fish farming to be safer than cultivating crops. “Making profit from crops is quite uncertain,” he said.

Razzak said he recently dug a pond on his two-acre land despite having another pond on one acre. When this correspondent asked whether he got permission for digging the pond, he replied in the negative. Farmers used to produce paddy, potato and wheat on those lands, he added. 

Kalai Upazila Agriculture Officer   Rezaul Karim said land owners need to obtain permission from the local administration for digging ponds on their arable land, but they disregard the directive.

During a recent visit to different villages in Punat, Matrai, Jidnapur, Ahmedabad and Udaypur unions in Kalai upazila, this correspondent found that dozens of ponds have been dug on large areas of highly fertile land, while more digging was going on. Farmers hired hundreds of labourers and tractor trolleys for digging the ponds.

Many land owners also sold the top soil to brickfield owners.

Locals said Narayan Chandra Roy of Bamangram village and Rafiqul Islam of Balait village under Kalai upazila and Moazzem Kazi of Khalishgari village under Khetlal upazila dug ponds on 12 acres in 2016.

“They dug the ponds without any permission from the local authorities,” said Monirul Islam of Bamangram.

Saiful Islam of Imampur village in Kalai upazila said he filed an application to local authorities seeking permission to dig a pond on his land, but failed to get the permission, adding that he dug a pond on 17 acres for fish farming.

Twelve other land owners of his village dug ponds on 50 acres, said Saiful.

Agriculture Officer Rezaul Karim admitted that arable land is decreasing fast in the upazila due to digging of ponds. This will reduce crop production and so, the practice should be stopped immediately, he added.

Kalai Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Afaz Uddin said his office is not permitting anybody to dig pond, and legal action will be taken against those who dig ponds on arable lands.