In a country where farming is not still considered prestigious, a deputy director at the Department of Agriculture Extension has returned to his ancestral profession after retiring from his occupation that he was in for 37 years in Thakurgaon.
Bijoy Kumar Chattergy scientifically grew sugarcane varieties–Ishwardy 32, 37 and 39, along with short-term crops like potato and lentil, on his ancestral 13 bighas of land under Thakurgaon Sugar Mills, earning nearly Tk4 lakh last season, while he had to spend only about Tk1.5 lakh.
So much earning from so few bighas of land in one season has made him talk of the town in and around Dhontola-Thumniya village at the district’s Baliadanga upazila.
He is now a role model for others who used to shun sugarcane fearing losses. Agriculture expert Bijoy spoke to the Dhaka Tribune about his farming.
“Sugarcane is a cash crop, and our sugar industry is completely dependent on it.
That is why I have taken up this profession as a responsibility towards my country,” he says.
He believes that every farmer should resort to sugarcane farming.
He explains that a farmer can earn more money by farming sugarcane along with other short-term crops like potato and lentil, than they can by farming any other crop.
Moreover, at least 20 labourers can be used on 13 acres of sugarcane field every day, creating employment for the rural people, he adds.
The retired agriculture official will soon campaign for farming sugarcane in the zone under the sugar mills.
He hopes that his campaign will work out bringing more and more farmers under the cane cultivation, thus enabling the mills to get more and more supply of canes for crushing each season.
He dreams of seeing the sugar industry free from its current sorry state one day.