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The ground-nut cultivation may gear up the rural economy of Jamalpur if it is cultivated in shoal areas on a large scale.
   According to the department of agriculture extension, the vast areas of sandy land available across the river banks and shoal areas of the district are suitable for ground-nut cultivation.
   A DAE survey report says, about a lakh hectares of such land remains almost un-utilised round the year.
   An initiative to motivate the farmers to bring these barren lands under ground-nut cultivation could boost up the crop output as well as the earning of the farmers.
   The farmers at their own initiatives grow three varieties of ground-nut in different areas of Jamalpur in small scale. The DAE experts said, this cultivation can be doubled in a year.
   The advantage of ground-nut cultivation is that it needs plough only once or twice before plantation.
   Ground-nut farming hardly requires irrigation. It can be cultivated with small-scale involvement.
   The farmers can harvest about one tonne of ground-nut worth Tk 20,000 to Tk 30,000 from per hectare of land.
   Ground-nut is rich in food value. The seed is oily and one maund of oil could easily be extracted from 100 kilograms of ground-nut.
   The existing edible oil shortage in the country can be overcome by ground-nut oil with its massive farming all over the country, utilising barren land without affecting other crops, the experts said.
   Added to this, the ground-nut oil cake can be used as fodder and fertiliser too.
   At present there is no mill in Jamalpur to crush ground-nut to extract oil. The ground-nut now produced by the farmers at their on initiative lacks enough marketing facilities.
   A local source said, to popularise the ground-nut farming in Jamalpur, motivation programmes, distribution of required seeds and bank loan facilities are needed.
   Our Sirajganj correspondent reports: The district with its vast shoal-lands has a bright prospect of ground-nut cultivation.
   Sirajganj has hundreds of small and big shoals on the beds of the rivers Jamuna, Karotoa, Phuljhar and other rivers.
   The DAE sources said this year the soil has been fertile being mixed with silt carried by flood water.
   Shoal-land of Kazipur, Chauhali, Belkuchi, Ullapara Shahzadpur and Sirajganj sadar including areas near the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge has silted up.
   The farmers have started cultivating ground-nut with great enthusiasm in these shoal-lands.
   Motaleb Mollah of Mohanpur village under Sadar upazila said he mainly cultivates pulses in shoal land, but when his land becomes silted, he cultivates ground-nut. This year he would do this.
   The DAE has already taken a programme for ground-nut cultivation on about 400 hectares in the shoal-lands of Sirajganj with a production target of 600 tonnes.

Three youths were injured while they were allegedly making bombs at Painshail village under sadar upazila Thursday.
   The police and witnesses said two bombs went off at the house of Fatema, wife of one Harun-or-Rashid, in the afternoon.
   The police arrested six persons, including one of the injured, with bomb-making materials. But two others — Nayan, 27, and Roman, 28 — managed to flee the scene.
   The arrested are Fatema Begum, 40, her two sons Rony, 22, and Rubel, 20, of Mailjani village under Nagarpur upazila in Tangail, Sarwar, 28, of village Alidaha in Sirajganj, Kamal, 25, of Haranpur village in Sunamganj, and Khokan, 28, of Ekhlaspur in Noakhali.
   Khokan was admitted to Gazipur Sadar Hospital in a critical condition. The police said Fatema bought a piece of land at Painshail village and built a house there a few years ago.

Criminals and activists of underground political parties in Natore have fled from the district after the law enforcing agencies have launched drive to nab them.
   Some of them, who are still staying in the district, are preparing to go into hiding, according to sources.
   The members of the Rapid Action Battalion and other law enforcing agencies have been keeping a vigil on the activities of the underground parties and criminals all over the district.
   The police and the Rapid Action Battalion are visiting different places and swooping on the criminals. The death of several members of underground parties in the hand of the Rapid Action Battalion and the police early this month has made the criminals panicky.
   On January 12, Moslem Uddin alias Omar, an underground party leader, was killed in a crossfire between the RAB and his associates.
   Rajab Ali, another extremist, was killed in crossfire between the police and his associates on January 14 at Lalpur upazila.
   The police recovered a revolver and 16 bullets.