Growing vegetables and local fruit on pond banks has changed the fortunes of fish farmers in Ishwardi, Pabna. Some 35 to 40 per cent of the profit from fish farming comes from the vegetables and fruit grown on the banks.

Fish farmers around more than 600 ponds in Dashuria and Muladuli unions of the upazila are growing vegetables and local fruit in a planned way. The Padma and Chamgara beels stretch across about 10 villages in the two unions. Because of year-round waterlogging, most land in the beels once grew nothing, and the little that was cropped yielded only one crop a year, so owners began digging ponds.

In just 10 years, some 600 ponds were dug in the two beels, with wide banks so vegetables and local fruit could be grown alongside the fish. Fish farmers have overturned the idea that digging ponds on cropland harms farmers: by growing vegetables and fruit alongside fish, many have changed their fortunes.

Thanks to the efforts of the upazila agriculture office, vegetable growing on pond banks has become popular over the past few years. What started as a companion crop now rivals the main crop, with vegetables on the banks and trellises and fish in the water below.

The vegetables grown here are entirely free of poison, so there is demand for them in local markets. Because bank farming pays, it is spreading to every pond, and after meeting local demand the vegetables are sold in markets in neighbouring upazilas.

The upazila agriculture office says field officers are working to make sure no cultivable land, including pond banks, is left fallow. Sub-assistant agriculture officers are encouraging people to grow crops on pond banks, homesteads and abandoned land.

In the beels of Dashuria and Muladuli, green stretches as far as the eye can see. Bottle gourd, pumpkin, cucumber, ridge gourd, beans, yardlong beans and Malabar spinach hang from trellises on the pond banks, alongside okra, bitter gourd, aubergine and other vegetables. Local bananas and papayas have also yielded well on the banks.

Rafiqul Islam Majhi, a member of Dashuria union parishad, told Jagonews: "There are about 600 ponds across the Padma and Chamgara beels between 10 villages including Marmi, Shyampur, Sultanpur and Hatigara. By growing vegetables on the banks alongside fish, the farmers' lives have changed. They are now self-reliant."

Fish farmers and growers said hanging trellises are made on the banks in a special way with bamboo and plastic netting, and the growing plants are spread over them. This takes less space and gives a good crop with little care. Integrated vegetable growing on pond banks has put smiles on their faces.

Selim Hossain, a fish farmer of Marmi village, said he has two ponds covering 68 bighas, both with wide banks. All year round he grows bottle gourd, beans, ridge gourd, yardlong beans and other vegetables on them, along with bananas and papayas. Last year he sold bananas, papayas and vegetables worth Tk 4.55 lakh, and about 35 per cent of the profit from his fish farming came from vegetables and local fruit.

Fish farmer Sabur Khan said he grows beans, aubergine, papaya and bananas on the banks of his four-bigha pond. Selling bananas, papayas and vegetables pays for his fish feed, so he does not have to bring money from home for fish farming. Pond owners here have profited well from bank vegetables, he said.

Sujan Dewan of Marmi village, who farms fish in two ponds, told Jagonews he grows bananas, papayas, aubergine and beans alongside. These poison-free vegetables meet his family's needs and can be sold to pay for fish farming. If fish farmers grew vegetables and local fruit on their banks instead of leaving them empty, the sales would cut the cost of fish farming, he said.

Upazila fisheries extension officer Zakia Sultana told Jagonews that a 2017-18 survey counted 2,476 ponds in the upazila, and the number has since grown considerably. Following a directive from the Prime Minister's Office, instructions have been given to grow vegetables and local fruit on pond banks. It has already borne fruit, and many have profited, she said.

Upazila agriculture officer Mita Sarkar told Jagonews: "The agriculture department is working to bring all cultivable land under cultivation. Sub-assistant agriculture officers are working in the field so that the bank of every pond in the upazila is brought under cultivation."

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