The firm belief of Mamataz Uddin Ahmed in agriculture and his organic method approach have turned his once-barren land into a virtual gold mine.
His success story has become the envy of fellow farmers in Kumari village of Fashiakhali Union under Bandarban district surrounded by hilly areas.
Organic farming is an agricultural system that seeks to provide consumer with fresh, tasty and authentic food while ensuring the agricultural system operation as naturally as possible and minimising the human impact on the environment.
Ahmed’s 17-acre land, which once remained unfit for agriculture, now houses a bountiful fruits like papaya, mango and orange orchard, woods, paddy and a lush green vegetable plot.
The infertile land did not turn into a fertile patch overnight, as he tried to tap some traditional farming without any success. However, he finally struck success when he started to apply organic farming method in line with the local environment condition, changing the course of his life.
The 17-acre land was situated on a slope of a hillock and the fertile soil in the land washed off regularly in rain. Then came help from the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB).
Coordinators of DAE and BATB suggested bio-diversity farming approach with providing knowledge the villagers about the importance of different elements in nature and their contribution in the ecosystem.
The coordinators support the farmers for better crop management in the hilly area by providing education and awareness about the non-chemical alternatives to pest management and safe use of agrochemicals.
As Bangladesh has low organic matter content in soil predominantly due to very high crop intensity, ‘Dhaincha’ (Sesbania sp.) cultivation is one of the most effective bio-friendly approach, which fixes atmospheric nitrogen through its root nodules and hence when it is ploughed back to the soil, the nitrogen as well as organic matter content of the soil is increased.
The naturally produced manure called ‘green manure with Dhaincha’ has significantly reduced dependency on use of chemical fertilizer and also decreased the cost of production.
As part of irrigation technique, farmers also learn alternate wet and dry method for rice cultivation using perforated plastic and bamboo pipe for gauging water level of the rise field—a technique that conserves water and fuel and, reduce irrigation cost.
“I’ve sold my produces worth nearly Tk33 lakh this year. Also, I am expecting to earn Tk6 lakh by selling fruits this season,” said Ahmed with a broad smile.
The farmer said that the productivity of land has scientifically been increased due to using bio-diversity approach. “The hard work combined with the latest method extended by DAE and BATB has helped me achieve the success.”
Usy Marma, another farmer at Referpara under Ali Kadam upazila in Bandarban, said, “I am cultivating bean this winter by investing only my hard labour and taking natural precautious measures on my land which was once a brick field.”
She said compost manure, cow dung and other natural fertiliser are being used instead of chemical fertilizer, which helps reduce the output costs. Usy grows radish, brinjal, local beans and chilli. “I got better crop over the last six years, which encourages me to expand cultivation area this season to six kanis (1 kani=40 decimal) from two kanis.”
Abul Hamid, a farmer at Gazaria Union-1 at Lama upazila said planting Dhaincha in crop field controls various kinds of pests. “It boosts my production at lower cost.”
Both Marma and Hamid described how they gather the technical know-how to install compost pits in their homesteads.
