An exceptional haat was organized at the centre of Shahbagh in the capital on Friday. Much like the weekly markets in rural areas, a dozen producers, marketers, and retailers of safe food products set up their makeshift stalls on a road divider at Shahbagh.
It was such a second haat held on two consecutive Fridays to promote and sell several types of indigenous varieties of rice (with half or full fibre) and paddy seeds, which are nearly extinct due to a lack of demand, at affordable prices.
Apart from nearly two dozen varieties of rice, the haat features Binni rice from the hills, handmade brown sugar, hand-roasted puffed rice, flattened rice, kaun rice, barley powder, brown wheat flour, sesame, linseed, date molasses, honey, Chuijhal and various other safe food items, including mustard oil, linseed, and black cumin oil.
Beside the sale of products, lunch and dinner platters of indigenous Chamara rice, mashed vegetables of six types, and daal were available at Tk149.
Styled “Deshi Chaler Haat”, the exceptional congregation of safe food campaigners was operational from 11am to 9pm and will be held at the same place next Friday, said Hasan Mahidi, who is coordinating the initiative.
Other than the regular consumers, many people passing by stopped by the haat, eager to know about safe food products from the entrepreneurs. They got the opportunity to see the rice and paddy up close and learn about the benefits of brown rice and nontoxic vegetables.
These indigenous rice varieties are not sold in traditional markets due to the rising demand for polished and trimmed rice, named Miniket or Najirshail. Authorities say there is no paddy variety named Miniket or Najirshail in the country. The traders are actually trimming BRRI-28 and BRRI-29 rice varieties to make these brands and make higher profits.
The consumers are deceived as they look for polished and fine rice and are given trimmed Jeera Shail and Shampa Katari.
A banker by profession, Hasan Mahidi launched this haat as part of his voluntary campaign to make people aware of the adverse impacts of trimmed and polished white rice and why people should shift towards half- or full-fibre rice.
Over the last decade, he has been preserving indigenous paddy seeds and inspiring farmers to produce these varieties. A part of the profit goes to the preservation of paddy seeds. He uses his Facebook profile to raise public awareness among consumers about the benefits of eating various types of indigenous rice with fibre.
To promote the cause, he has formed an organization named Pathya, which translates to dietetic food.
When he took the initiative, several other marketers and vendors of the safe food campaign joined him at the first haat on January 12, and more vendors became part of it Friday when the number of products increased significantly.
What is sold here?
On the first day of the market, Chamara rice, Kaliboro seeds, and Kalabakari seeds were sold by “Pathya”; Rataboro and Kalabakari rice by Hygiene Harvest; lalchal.com sold Biroi, Ganjia, Banshful, Binni, black rice, and whole grain rice; and “Banglar Oitijyo” brought two aromatic rice varieties—Tulsimala and Kalojira.
Apart from them, “Deshaj” sold sprout-friendly Mashkalai and Mug lentils, flattened rice, puffed rice, barley powder, and Atap rice powder; and “Swapnochhowa” brought date jaggery, honey, and black cumin oil.
“Shuddho Krishi” introduced the exclusive Chamara platter of rice and mashed vegetables (Bhorta) of six types on January 12. They got a huge response on the second day, when many visitors, buyers, and vendors tasted the flavour of indigenous rice and nontoxic vegetables.
Inspired by the response during the first haat, several other vendors joined Hasan Mahidi’s initiative. "Bonbithi" joined with natural honey from the Sundarbans, homemade coconut oil, and the famous Chuijhal of the Khulna region; and “Daily Food Shop” brought natural honey, ghee, and mustard oil.
All the entrepreneurs of these organizations, including Hasan Mahidi, are young; many of them have been directly associated with safe agricultural management and safe food production and processing for nearly a decade. They feel comfortable identifying themselves as safe food activists.
Promoting Chamara
Over the past few years, sales and campaigns by Hasan Mahadi and other entrepreneurs have led many health-conscious families to switch from buying trimmed and polished Miniket or Najirshail rice and soybean oil. Thanks to their efforts, people from Dhaka and elsewhere can buy many traditional food products from villages from the stores and their online shops.
Hasan Mahidi thinks that people's eating habits have changed in the past few years, when reluctance to consume safe food products has also been created. As a result, the people, especially city dwellers, suffer from various diseases that could have been avoided.
Along with other rice varieties, Hasan Mahidi gave the most time to spread Chamara rice, mainly produced in the Char areas of the Jamuna River in Tangail.
Pathaya has low-, medium-, and full-grain Chamara rice available at Tk60 per kg. He is happy even though the profit is limited because his main aim is to popularize the rice. He also supplies Chamara rice to 17 sales centres across the country, including Dhaka.
Hasan Mahidi is concerned over the trend of more people showing reluctance to eat indigenous coarse rice and looking for polished and trimmed rice. Many people are also not interested in choosing nontoxic vegetables, fish, or chicken.
Chamara and other indigenous rice are available within Dhaka at Mohammadpur's "Prakritik Krishi Biponan Kendro", Green Road's "Shuddho Krishi", Uttara's "Daily Food Shop", Mirpur's "Lalchal.com", Baridhara's "Banglar Oitijyo", Old Dhaka's "Tong" and Bailey Road’s “Hygiene Harvest” outlets.
Besides, brown rice can also be found outside Dhaka at "Bonbithi" of Bagerhat, "Sylheti Khani" of Sylhet, "Krishak Bhai" and "Krishi Kabyo" of Chittagong, "Deshaj" of Pabna, "Swapnochhowa" of Sirajganj, "Halal Mart" of Rajbari, and "Chashbas" of Manikganj.
Cultivation of deshi rice decreasing
Hasan Mahidi thinks that indigenous rice cultivation has decreased to a large extent due to some domestic and foreign opportunistic quarters. Elaborating on the matter, he said, people are getting sick these days due to unhealthy eating habits, and hence “iron and calcium tablets worth crores of taka are sold. But Aush rice has enough of both.”
On the other hand, Boro rice is being cultivated by extracting groundwater during the dry season at a huge cost, harming the environment.
Hasan Mahidi also said: “Due to the emphasis on high-yielding Boro cultivation with the help of land irrigation, the watershed area of the country has been reduced to 4.9 lakh hectares. At present, 15.1 lakh hectares of paddy land remain uncultivated during the monsoon in Bangladesh.
"Furthermore, the country is turning into a cancer mine due to the widespread use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and hybrid seeds. Ground water and soil are being polluted by various chemicals, including heavy metals like nitrous, cadmium, arsenic, lead, and chromium. The Boro paddy cultivation is depleting the groundwater level at an alarming rate.”
He feels that the government as well as safe food activists should promote Aush and Aman paddies for the sake of a healthy future generation, and Boro cultivation should be stopped. “If we do not return to our own culture, we will disappear like the Harappa-Mohenjo-Daro,” he warned.