Baria is a remote village under Kushtia Sadar Upazila where a paved road passes through the lush greenery of the village.
Recently, local farmers planted two thousand bay leaves and cinnamon trees using plastic fences around them. The plants are spread around a stretch of five-kilomtre area.
Turmeric and ginger are also being cultivated in fallow lands around the houses of the village. The other spices being cultivated in the village include onion, garlic, capsicum, pepper, cumin and chuijhal.
The village is now known as masala (spice) village and it is a pilot project by the local agricultural department in order to reduce the dependency on imported spices in the country.
Halim Sheikh, a local van driver, said: "To reduce the import of spices, the government has initiated this project under which local farmers planted 2, 000 trees of varieties of spices. Once produced, we will be able to sell the spices and also use them in cooking meals ourselves.”
Jahura Begum, a housewife said: “We will be benefited greatly when these spices grow. We thank the administration for taking up this project in our village.”
Another villager, Rashidul Islam, said he has been tasked with watering the plants on either side of the main road leading to the village by the local agriculture office. Also, some villagers are cultivating these spices on their own lands. These plants have been provided by the agriculture office.
Another villager, Azimuddin, said: “About two months ago, I participated in a training program at the Upazila agriculture office. 120 people from this village completed the training. The agriculture office gave everyone two meals a day and Tk1, 300 upon completion of the training.
Sautam Kumar Shil, officer at the local Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said that different types of spices are being cultivated in Baria village under government incentives. The village has been chosen by the government under the Spice Improvement and Technology Extension Scheme. A total of 100 families have joined the five-year-long project.”
Within the next three years these farmers will be financially benefited by cultivating these spices.
He said that these spices are currently being imported through spending foreign currency. Therefore, the government plans to save foreign currency by reducing import of such spices.
A cooperative society has also been formed for the farmers so that everyone in the village can move forward collectively, the official said.