JASHORE — One of the country’s largest cotton research, training and seed multiplication farms, located in Jagadishpur in Chougachha upazila of Jashore district, was once a symbol of promise. But staff shortages, mismanagement and years of neglect have left much of the farm’s operations stalled, and local residents have called for establishing a full-fledged agricultural university on its unused land.
The demand was raised in parliament by lawmaker Dr. Mosleh Uddin Farid, who described the farm’s current condition. Setting up an agricultural university there would put unused resources to work and open a new horizon for agricultural education in the country, he said.
The farm was inaugurated on November 19, 1980, by then-President Shaheed Ziaur Rahman. It was established with financial support from the Bangladesh government and the then-European Economic Community (EEC) and covers a total area of 63.70 hectares (about 157 acres). Of that, about 14.72 hectares is currently unused, while the rest is taken up by research, seed production, various crops, orchards, ponds, roads and other infrastructure.
The farm carries out research under five disciplines: breeding, agronomy, entomology, soil science and pathology. It also has a training centre with residential facilities that can accommodate, feed and train about 120 people at a time. According to officials, this existing infrastructure could easily support a full-fledged agricultural university.
Next to the farm is the Morjed Baor of Chougachha, which has significant potential for fisheries research, officials said. Research on livestock and poultry could also be conducted on the farm’s fallow land.
Rahidul Khan, a senior journalist in Chougachha, said Jashore is an open agricultural production area where many crop varieties can be grown year-round. Because natural disasters are comparatively rare, it is an ideal location for agricultural research and education, he said. In his view, setting up an agricultural university at the Jagadishpur cotton farm would reduce government expenditure and make the best use of existing infrastructure.
Farm manager and cotton agronomist Zobayer Islam Talukder said establishing an agricultural university there would be a timely initiative.
Upazila Agricultural Officer Mosabbin Hussain agreed, saying the soil in the Jashore region is suitable for producing all kinds of crops, giving the area broad potential for agricultural education and research.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report