Living in Europe has not cured hobby farmer Abu Sayeed of his love of farming, so he rushes home whenever he gets the chance. Growing vegetables on the roof of his house gives him great pleasure, and this time he amazed everyone by growing ridge gourd on the roof using the box method. Gourds hang from the trellis while bumblebees and honeybees buzz around the yellow flowers above it. This was the scene on the roof of Abu Sayeed's house in Kundarghora village, Cumilla Sadar Dakshin upazila.
Abu Sayeed told BSS that he and his two brothers live in Europe, in Istanbul, Belarus and Spain. Although they live in Europe, they have a soft spot for farming, and the three take turns coming home at different times of the year to tend the fields.
From pumpkins to ridge gourds
"Two years ago I built wooden boxes on the roof and grew sweet pumpkin there," Abu Sayeed said. "There were lots of pumpkins and my enthusiasm grew. Later my elder and younger brothers came from Istanbul and Spain and they started work too."
About a month ago, he said, he built wooden boxes on the roof, at least a foot and a half above it, and prepared the soil with organic fertiliser. He sowed 35 ridge gourd seeds there. "In just one month I got one and a half maunds of ridge gourd from the roof garden. I gave 30 kg of it to relatives and neighbours and sold the remaining 30 kg at Tk 30 a kg." He grows vegetables mainly as a hobby.
Two years ago, Abu Sayeed said, he started thinking about how to use his empty roof, and began growing different vegetables in wooden boxes. Agriculture officials helped with seeds and advice.
Sahida Khatun, sub-assistant agriculture officer of Sadar Dakshin upazila, told BSS that the expatriate Abu Sayeed is an agricultural entrepreneur. "Because of his enthusiasm we gave him improved ridge gourd seeds. He took our advice and the yield was excellent. People in this area who have roofs are now being encouraged to grow vegetables with the box method. It meets their families' vitamin needs, and they earn money by selling the surplus."
Source: BSS. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
Comments
(0)