Helal Uddin and his brothers used to live on rice half eaten by pests. During their childhood, extreme poverty forced them to go without food for days.
At one point, Helal took a job at a household in Mahesshorchanda village of Kaliganj upazila in Jhenaidah district. He worked all day in exchange for three meals. In the meantime, he got married, but his wife left him.
Now 79 years old, Helal Uddin lives in the same village with a monthly income of around Tk1 lakh.
The turning point in his life came after the year 2000. He acquired a small piece of land after years of farming on others’ properties. The real change came with the production of organic fertilizer. At that time, some people from abroad visited the area, and from them, Helal learned how to make organic compost.
With a smile on his face, Helal shared: “Look, when I go to my daughter’s in-laws’ house, instead of sweets, I pack earthworm vermicompost.”
“I used to eat rice from rat holes due to poverty,” he said. “Now there is no shortage of money. I train people in safe, poison-free crop cultivation.”
He recalled: “During my father’s time, 7 to 8 maunds of rice were produced from one bigha of land. There were frequent floods that caused a lot of damage. Then two persons from India and Japan came and tested our soil. They told us that organic fertilizer is best suited to our soil.”
He added that countries like the United States, Vietnam, Japan, and the Philippines use organic fertilizer widely. These visitors trained Helal and others. In 2012, he traveled to eight countries through an international organization and received further training. “At that time, I used to get Tk2,000 per day. After I returned, an organization gave me Tk30,000 for my work. That was the first time I saw so much money—I couldn’t believe it.”
Helal started going around the village, searching for earthworms all day. “I kept thinking about how to find better earthworms. I discovered that one kind lives under the village sink, and another good one can be found inside the bark of banana trees. I’ve been raising earthworms ever since.”
Eventually, he began making earthworm fertilizer at home. At first, no one wanted to use it. Therefore, he gave it away for free until 2009.
Then, to prove its effectiveness, he applied it to his own land. On one bigha, he used organic fertilizer; on another, he used chemical fertilizer. The organic one gave a better yield.
“After that people began following my advice. Farmers from all over the country came to ask me about my work,” he said.
Today, Helal Uddin produces up to 50 maunds of fertilizer per month. He also produces and distributes organic pesticides, herbal plants, and compost fertilizer—encouraging other farmers to switch to safer, cleaner methods.
“Once upon a time, people used to hate me. They wouldn’t even pray behind me,” he said. “But now my 18 acres of land produces 500 maunds of paddy. I’ve received 11 awards for this work.”