A marginal farmer of the district has set a unique example of self-reliance in economics through cultivating Napier grass on his land for the last few years.
Abdul Gafur in Sultapur Baraipara village, Kishoregari union, Palashbari upazila, Gaibandha, used to rear cows but he had been facing fodder crisis for them for long and thought how to solve it.
Once a day, farmer Gafur went to Palashbari upazila livestock office in 2001 and asked the upazila livestock officer Mostafa Kamal to give him suggestions how to get expected milk from the cow.
Then, upazila livestock officer advised him to feed the cow the Napier grass side by side with taking other fodders to the animal every day to get desired quantity of milk. Accordingly, farmer Gafur took some cuttings of Napier grass cultivated on the upazila livestock office premises free of cost and planted those on his nine decimals of land. As per the suggestion of the livestock officer, he nurtured the Napier grass filed properly and got a good return from it first time in exchange of nominal cost.
Next year, he planted the cuttings of the grass on another land and earned a good amount of profit by selling the grass to other cow rearing men in the village.
As he was benefited enormously, he continued to expand the cultivation of the grass on his purchased and leased land surrounding his house over the years.
This year, he cultivated the grass on 10 plots measuring 9 bighas of land and was earning money veryday through selling it to the local markets after meeting its demand to a couple of cows he was rearing.
Now, he is a solvent person in the area and leading a happy life with his family members. He has also constructed brick built house and cow shed and also taken a plan to buy at least 15 cattle within very short time with the money of grass.
In this context, farmer Abdul Gafur said, “Earlier, he had nothing except nine decimals of arable land and homestead. After involving in the grass farming in few years last, he has done many things side by side with changing his socio- economic condition radically.”
In reply to a question, Gafur said a farmer could earn Tk115,000-120,000 from a bigha of land by harvesting the grass nine times in a year while its production cost is Tk12,000 only. There is no necessary to use insecticides in the land of the grass, he said, adding that only cow dung and urea fertilizers are used in the land to get desired output from the farming. To see his success in Napier grass cultivation, many farmers of the union have started farming the same on their respective land in recent years and are earning money which is playing significant roles in changing their lots gradually, he added.
M Moklesur Rahman, another farmer of the village, said he also farmed the grass on a bigha of land during the current season and had already started the harvest of the variety and earning money by selling it local markets.
To see it, many interested farmers are coming to them particularly Abdul Gafur from far flung areas of the district to have a glimpse the grass filed and sharing them how to farm it successfully on the land in coming seasons, he also said.
Upazila livestock officer Dr Abdul Gafur said Napier grass farming is very profitable as no handsome amount was required to invest it. Only labor and dedication is enough for the cultivation.
Abul Kashem, district livestock officer, said farmer Gafur had set a unique example and become a model in Napier grass farming in the district as he turned the wheels of fortune by farming it successfully.
A man could change his lots through farming the grass only, farmer Abdul Gafur is the example for it; he said adding that other men could follow it to change their lots and help the dairy sector of the country push forward towards desired development.
