So what if he has no land of his own? Farmer Gani Mia of Kaliganj in Lalmonirhat has shown how determination and hard work can change a person's fortunes. By leasing two and a half bighas from others and applying the scientific advice of the upazila agriculture office, he now grows poison-free bottle gourd and is fully self-reliant.

Rows of green bottle gourds hang from Gani Mia's large trellis. He sells at least 30 to 40 gourds a day from the field. He has also cleverly grown onion, garlic, aubergine and tomato as companion crops on the same land, multiplying his income in a single season.

The farmer owes his success to training from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE). "I started growing bottle gourd after taking training from the agriculture office," Gani Mia said. "By the grace of Allah the yield has been very good. I sell gourds every day and I'm doing well financially. Most importantly, I don't use any chemical pesticide in my garden. Instead I use a bait mixture made from rotted oil-cake water, banana and sugarcane molasses."

Local people crowd to Gani Mia's field to buy the vegetables, which are safe and free of poison and formalin. Villager Ratan Sarkar said: "We regularly buy bottle gourd from Gani bhai's field. It tastes great because it is free of chemical fertiliser and pesticide. Seeing him, many people are now interested in farming safely like this."

News of his environment-friendly success has spread far. Sumon Islam, who came from Hatibandha upazila of the district for advice, said: "I heard about Gani bhai's poison-free bottle gourd and came to see the garden. I have land of my own. I got good advice from him, and when I go home I want to build a bottle gourd garden like this without pesticide too."

The upazila agriculture department is also pleased. Under an incentive programme Gani Mia was given seed and fertiliser, and sub-assistant agriculture officers regularly visited the field to advise him.

Kaliganj upazila agriculture officer Tushar Kanti Roy said more than 50 farmers across the upazila have been given bottle gourd seed and fertiliser under the government incentive this time. "We are introducing farmers to modern techniques such as '2G' and '3G' cutting, which is raising yields and has drawn a strong response in the field. With these modern technologies our farmers will become even more self-reliant in the days ahead."

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