Abdul Rashid has gone from day labourer to crorepati by growing hybrid sweet pumpkin, onion and garlic. He lives in Rambari village in Durgapur upazila of Netrokona. Following his example, many farmers from some 20 nearby villages have taken up the work, bringing a quiet revolution in vegetable farming to the chars of the Someshwari river. The successful farmer has also shown many unemployed women and men a path to work. In 15 years of growing vegetables he has bought about 200 kathas of land in the area.

Fifteen years ago, Abdul Rashid came from Nandina in Jamalpur to Rambari in Durgapur, Netrokona, to work. He was 25 at the time. After a while he started peddling onion, chilli and garlic with Tk 5,000 saved from selling his labour. From that business he bought five kathas of land on a sandbank of the Someshwari at Rambari for Tk 4,200. In 2010, with capital of just Tk 4,000, he began growing onion and sweet pumpkin there on a trial basis and earned Tk 35,000. He has not looked back, and is now a crorepati from vegetable farming.

Onion and coriander were grown as companion crops with sweet pumpkin on 10 acres. With good yields, an average of 300 pumpkins per katha gave a total of 35,000 pumpkins. Each pumpkin sold for an average of Tk 30, and output was 15-20 tonnes a hectare. Income after production costs was Tk 1,50,000 a hectare. Onion averaged 12.5 maunds a katha, a total of 1,250 maunds, or 19 tonnes a hectare, and coriander yielded 20 maunds. This year Abdul Rashid grew sweet pumpkin, onion, chilli, potato and other vegetables on 22 acres. With good yields and prices, he earned Tk 6,90,100 after production costs from 10 acres.

Garlic on 20 kathas (given as 2 acres) yielded 10 tonnes. At a market price of Tk 1,800 a tonne, income after production costs was Tk 4,33,600 a hectare. Chilli was grown as a companion crop on the same area, yielding 1 maund 10 kg a katha, or 1,560 kg a hectare, with income of Tk 2,14,500 after costs.

Potato on two and a half acres yielded 15 maunds a katha, 375 maunds in all, worth Tk 3 lakh. Although the crop was not especially good, the potato yield was, at about 7.5 tonnes a hectare, worth Tk 1,11,600.

Over the past few years Abdul Rashid has bought 17 acres of land for Tk 60 lakh from his vegetable income, taken 6 acres on mortgage for Tk 6 lakh, and built two houses for Tk 22 lakh.

Iraj Ali, a union member from Rambari village, said: "Abdul Rashid first came to our area to work as a labourer. With just a few thousand taka earned from that work he started peddling onion, garlic and other produce from village to village. Now he owns 200 kathas of crop land and two houses."

College teacher Abul Kalam of Rambari village said: "Rashid chacha had no assets at all. He was extremely poor. With willpower and indomitable drive, no obstacle can hold a person back."

Farmers Selim Reza and Nishar Bhuiyan of Jhanjail village, Iraj Ali of Rambari and many others said that following the example and advice of Abdul Rashid, the area has become a vegetable village, producing thousands of tonnes of vegetables.

Agriculturist Md Habibur Rahman, deputy director of the local Department of Agricultural Extension, said: "Successful farmers like Abdul Rashid have contributed a great deal to encouraging farmers to grow vegetables."

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