Forty-eight lovebird cages stand in rows, each fitted at the front with a small wooden box lined with straw. Inside every box, the lovebirds are now preparing to incubate their eggs. Fifteen days after the eggs hatch, lovely chicks of various species will be taken out of these cages.

Physically disabled engineer Arifuzzaman Khan (40) has found success by setting up such a lovebird breeding farm in Shariatpur. Through the farm, he has also created jobs for unemployed young people.

Arifuzzaman Khan is the son of Sultan Ahmmeh Khan and Amena Khatun of the Narkalikata area in Bhojeshwar union, Naria upazila. When he was six months old, polio damaged his left leg, and he had to walk with his family's help. To make travelling to school easier, he was enrolled in the same class as his younger sister. When he grew up and realised his condition would weigh on his family, he did not want to be a burden on anyone and tried to do something himself. After primary and high school in the village, he first enrolled at the Dhaka Polytechnic Institute and later completed his studies at Stamford University.

His student days in Dhaka were a great challenge. Being physically disabled, he was injured several times getting off buses. Entering a job after his studies was even harder, but he did not give up. At every organisation he worked for, his skill won him promotion within a few months.

He then decided to leave his job and do something of his own. In 2021 he quit and returned home. Back in his area, alongside interior design work, he leased 45 decimals of land and set up a breeding farm for ornamental lovebirds. After two years of effort, 15 species of lovebirds are now bred on the farm. A pair costs from Tk 1,500 to Tk 15,000 depending on the type. The farm now has 48 adult pairs and at least 30 pairs of lovebirds of various ages. He has not yet started selling commercially, but has begun selling some lovebirds to hobbyist bird lovers. The farm has the potential to earn a lakh taka within a few years.

A visit found the farm alive with birdsong. Yellow, green, blue and mixed-colour lovebirds peep out of the 48 cages. Wooden boxes 10 inches long, 8 inches wide and 7.5 inches high have been fitted in front of the cages, and birds in 36 of them have laid eggs. Some chicks have been gathered into two small cages, and Arifuzzaman Khan was feeding them.

Arifuzzaman Khan said: "Since childhood I have seen physically disabled people think of themselves as a burden on society. I did not want to be a burden, so I studied and took a job. But I felt it would be best if I could do something myself. So I left my job, returned to the village and started designing buildings and doing interior design. Alongside that, I started the lovebird breeding farm and biofloc fish farming. For now the lovebird breeding farm is running. After two long years of effort, I started getting chicks from the lovebirds. Two people are working on my farm at present, and I plan to expand it in future."

He said that if unemployed young people set up bird farms like his instead of waiting for jobs, they could earn quite well.

Shakil Hossain (22), who looks after the farm, said: "I have been here with bhai from the start. I care for the birds with him. There are different species here, and I really like looking at all the different lovebirds."

Local resident Abdur Rob Khan said: "Arif is a son of our area. Despite being disabled himself, he has built a fine farm, which is truly praiseworthy. I also want to build a bird farm like this."

Kanchan Hossain, entrepreneur at the Bhojeshwar union parishad digital centre, said: "Arifuzzaman is an example that disabled people are not a burden on society. Overcoming every obstacle, he is a successful engineer. He has also set up a fine bird and fish farm himself to create jobs for unemployed youths, and several young people have found work there. We salute his work. Everyone, please keep him in your prayers."

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