What he earned abroad did not satisfy him, so, feeling that going overseas had been a mistake, he came home and was unemployed again. He started a business, but a fire destroyed that too. Now that once-jobless young man, Benzir of Hasanpur in Dumuria upazila, Khulna, is a success.

The road was not easy. After many ups and downs he began farming the local pabda fish, and it has paid off. On 30 October he sold Tk 17 lakh worth of fish in a single day, and his pond still holds at least Tk 50 lakh worth of fish.

Benzir is 27 and now lives in Hasanpur village in Sadar union of Dumuria upazila, though his family had little connection with the village. Because of financial hardship his father moved from Dumuria to Narayanganj many years ago, where he ran a business and a pharmacy. All three brothers grew up and studied in Narayanganj. Following his two brothers, Benzir went abroad. After four and a half years he returned in early 2020. Shortly afterwards their business premises in Narayanganj caught fire and the shops burned down. As frustration mounted, they decided to return to their roots in Hasanpur.

"My two brothers have also come back. We all live in Hasanpur now, and they are also involved in fish farming," Benzir said. His pond covers about 700 decimals. He has leased the government waterbody for five years at about Tk 4 lakh a year. A relative, Alauddin, who had experience of pabda farming, is his partner. The farm employs four people permanently and two or three more daily on a temporary basis.

Benzir netted fish for the first time this season on 30 October. There was a festive atmosphere around the pond from the morning, as villagers and officials of the upazila fisheries office came to watch. Exporters who ship pabda to India bought Tk 17 lakh worth of fish from him that day.

"I had never farmed any kind of fish before," Benzir said. "Many kinds of fish are farmed around Hasanpur, and most people here farm shrimp and carp. I wanted to do something different. When I contacted the upazila fisheries office, they advised me to farm pabda and gave me four days' training. On their advice I also farmed various carp species with the pabda, and those fish have grown big too. Altogether it has cost about Tk 22 lakh over six months. I sold Tk 17 lakh of fish in one day, and I expect to sell at least another Tk 50 lakh from the fish that remain."

He said many unemployed young people still think they must go abroad even if they have to sell their land, because there are no jobs at home. "I now truly believe that with the money it takes to go abroad as a labourer, it is possible to do something good while staying in the country. I am much better off now than I was abroad."

Md Abubakar Siddique, senior upazila fisheries officer in Dumuria, said the fisheries office took up several projects to increase production of local fish during the coronavirus period. When Benzir came to them with an interest in fish farming, they advised him to farm pabda and linked him with his relative who had pabda experience. Under the Extension of Fish Culture Technology Services at Union Level (second phase) project, Benzir received training and other support. "So far they have been very successful," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.