Staff Correspondent

Minister for Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Affairs Saching Prue has emphasized the importance of adopting economically viable projects, stating that an agricultural revolution must be brought to the hills by following the footsteps of Asian nations like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Nepal through advanced shifting cultivation (jhum) and modern farming techniques.

He made the remarks on Monday while presiding over the July 2026 Annual Development Programme (ADP) review meeting of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, held at the conference room of the CHT Complex on Bailey Road in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Highlighting that hill soil is exceptionally suited for specific plantations, Minister Saching Prue called for the utilization of high-yielding technologies for cashew nut and coffee cultivation to strengthen the national economy. He directed authorities to ensure proper land usage and focus on cash crops. Stressing the establishment of a soil testing/trade center in the CHT region to assess soil quality, he urged initiatives for eco-friendly cash crops, high-quality mushrooms, and superior varieties of lotkon while protecting the environment.

Addressing the meeting, State Minister for CHT Affairs Barrister Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin, MP, stressed that land acquisition processes in the CHT must be completed within stipulated deadlines, and genuinely affected families must be rehabilitated on government khas land during the process. He urged resolving land ownership issues through customary rules in consultation with district council chairmen.

Calling for an end to project delays through better coordination, the State Minister stated that tobacco cultivation is harmful to society and the environment and must be discouraged. Instead, he urged encouraging farmers to cultivate sugarcane, cotton, cashews, and coffee.

During the meeting, Hill Tracts Development Board Chairman Major General (Retd.) Anup Kumar Chakma and Vice Chairman (Joint Secretary) Sheikh Saleh Ahmed received best innovation awards from the Minister and State Minister. Newly elected chairmen—Ma Ma Ching of the Bandarban Hill District Council, Mra Sa Thowai Marma of the Khagrachari Hill District Council, and Dipon Talukdar of the Rangamati Hill District Council—attended and spoke at the meeting for the first time.

Chaired by CHT Affairs Ministry Secretary Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, the meeting was attended by Additional Secretary Md. Monirul Islam, CHT Regional Council Member K.S. Mong, Hill Tracts Development Board Chairman, and other senior ministry officials. Discussions centered on the construction of the CHT Regional Council Complex, the Climate Resilient Livelihood Improvement and Watershed Management (CRLIWMP-CHT) project, cotton cultivation and poverty alleviation initiatives, sustainable social service delivery projects, and various regional communication and connector road infrastructure projects.