Agriculture officer Md Shahadul Islam is winning praise for growing vegetables on fallow land at the Madarganj upazila parishad in Jamalpur. Land once full of scrub and grass is now thick with colourful cauliflower, cabbage, turnip, Malabar spinach, mustard greens, red amaranth, aubergine, chilli, tomato, papaya, stem amaranth, lemon and other vegetables. People who come to the parishad for services say they are impressed and inspired by his work.

A visit to the upazila parishad found a range of winter vegetables growing on the land. Between office tasks, Shahadul can be seen preparing vegetable beds, weeding or watering the plots, while others stand nearby watching him at work.

Sohag Hossain, who had come to the cooperative office for a service, said that until recently the spot was covered in grass and scrub. "Now it is a vegetable garden. It is good just to look at. The agriculture officer looks after the garden himself," he said.

Shahadul said that for a long time the plot had met much of the nutritional needs of his small family, and that it let him feed his children completely safe vegetables. "If everyone like me brought the fallow patches around their homes under cultivation, the Prime Minister's directive would be fulfilled, and the necessary nutrients would be ensured at the same time," he said.

He added that eating vegetables from the plot was not the main point. The aim was to encourage people, and to make the parishad compound more attractive.

Upazila parishad chairman Md Obaidur Rahman Belal said the agriculture officer was now growing poison-free vegetables on land that used to be overgrown with grass and scrub. "This was possible through his own dedicated effort. Such work deserves praise, and we commend him," he said.

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