Raj Kumar Pal (52) has pulled a van, worked as a soil-digging labourer and farmed other people's land to make a living. Still, his household was never free of want. Finally, growing vegetables has brought his family a comfortable living.

Raj Kumar lives in Charbila village of Shahabad union in Narail Sadar upazila. He grows vegetables on 50 decimals of land, including the yard in front of his house: cucumber, potato, bean, ridge gourd, tomato, stem amaranth, spinach, Malabar spinach, red amaranth, okra and pomelo. He uses organic fertiliser, and his produce is in special demand as pesticide-free vegetables.

He started growing safe vegetables last year but made a loss that year. This season he has turned a profit. He spent Tk 8,000 to grow high-yielding varieties this season, has earned Tk 20,000 from sales in the past 50 days and expects to sell about Tk 30,000 more.

Every morning at dawn, Raj Kumar said, he and his wife pick fresh vegetables from the field and clean them. He then cycles 15 km to the town market to sell them. Last year he lost Tk 10,000 selling at wholesale prices. This year he is taking the vegetables to market himself and getting better prices, and he will recover last year's loss.

His wife helps him with the farming, and the couple's two sons are at college. With success, he plans to grow vegetables on more land. "I'll save money and buy some land next year," he said. "Growing vegetables on more land will bring more profit."

Seeing his success, several other families in the village have taken up safe vegetable farming. His neighbour Idris Molla said: "Raj Kumar is a hard-working farmer. Following his example we have also started growing safe vegetables, and we learned the techniques from him." Another neighbour, Ramesh Pal, said the same.

Delwar Hossain, chairman of Shahabad union parishad, said: "Raj Kumar is bringing up his two sons with great hardship. I've heard he has become self-reliant by growing safe vegetables and selling them at the town market. Because of him many in the village are now interested in safe vegetable farming."

Sadar upazila agriculture officer Zahidul Islam said 15 farmers in the upazila now grow safe vegetables. There are plans for a dedicated shop in the town to sell them, and an application will be made to the deputy commissioner to take steps on this.

Source: Prothom Alo. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.