Once left destitute by river erosion, Md. Oli Ullah came to Chuadanga and worked as a day labourer with no roof over his head. Today he is a role model in local farm machinery manufacturing, with annual sales of Tk 45 crore to Tk 50 crore. He has sent machines as samples to Zimbabwe, Nepal, Bhutan and other countries and plans to export soon, labelled "Made in Bangladesh".

The story centres on Janata Engineering at Sarojganj Bazar in Kutubpur union, Chuadanga Sadar, founded by Oli Ullah, known locally as "Oli Huzur". Born in Debidwar, Cumilla, he lost everything to river erosion in 1988, aged 24, and moved to Chuadanga, taking whatever work he could find. He started as an assistant in a machinery repair shop at Sarojganj Bazar, learned to repair and make parts, and four years later opened his own workshop with Tk 4,000.

He began by making threshers and now produces 40 types of modern farm machinery, including seed drills, combine harvesters, rice transplanters, grass and straw cutters and potato diggers. Because he uses local technology, prices are within farmers' reach: a foreign combine harvester costs Tk 12 lakh to Tk 28 lakh or more, while his costs Tk 7 lakh to Tk 9 lakh.

More than a hundred people work at the firm, many once day labourers with little education, now skilled craftsmen, including women. More than 50 dealers sell his machines nationwide. His pedal thresher gained attention around 2010, and with technical support from BARI and BRRI and financial help from USAID and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the firm grew. With government support he now runs a training institute, Janata Resource Training and Service. Trainee Sohag Hossain came from Patharghata, Barguna, to learn farm machinery; trainee Md. Tamim said educated unemployed youth like him want to become entrepreneurs, not job seekers.

He has held more than 200 workshops and trained thousands; at least 150 of his former pupils in Kushtia, Jhenaidah, Meherpur, Jashore and elsewhere now make and sell farm machinery. He was named Small Entrepreneur of the Year by the SME Foundation in 2023 and received the government's Agriculturally Important Person (AIP) honour in 2024. Farmer Mahbubur Rahman said he bought a seeder, reaper and drum thresher from him at low prices and good quality, and Oli Ullah repairs them himself. Milon Mia, owner of Meem Engineering Workshop, learned the trade in his factory.

Janata Engineering has three factories, two running and an automated third under construction. "I want Bangladesh one day to find solutions at home instead of looking abroad for farm machinery," Oli Ullah said, adding that the automated factory will cut production costs so farmers get better machines cheaply; he asked for government support for exports. Mosammat Shahnaz Begum, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Marketing for Khulna division, said his contribution to local farm machinery is recognised and she hopes more entrepreneurs will enter the sector.

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