Thousands of extremely poor people living in the 12 remote char unions of Sadar and Raipura upazilas of the district have improved their standard of living through various income generation activities, reports BSS. Most of the people here have achieved success through farming groundnut, sweet potato and various vegetables in the vast  tracts of sandy barren char lands in Meghna and Arial khan river basin. Besides, a number of poor people living in the char villages of the district have also achieved self-reliance through rearing of livestock in the char lands and fish farming and duck rearing in the rivers. The local Agriculture Extension Department provided training to the farmers of char villages on groundnut, sweet potato and various vegetables cultivation and distributed seeds and pesticide free of cost. Now, the people of char villages are leading a completely changed life with achieving hygienic sanitation and access to pure drinking water, reducing malnutrition of their children, women and pregnant women. Their children are now going to schools and madrasas regularly. Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture Extension, Narsingdi Lotafat Hossain told BSS that training provided to the farmers on groundnut, sweet potato and vegetables farming have brought about a revolutionary change in the rural economy in the char villages of the district.