Rather than chase a job, Ramzan Ali of Sonargaon, Narayanganj, chose modern farming as his profession. Using improved seed, mulching and modern methods, he has become self-reliant growing a range of vegetables and fruit, and is now growing off-season watermelons on trellises built around his fish ponds.
Ramzan, son of farmer Yunus Ali of Gouraboddi village in Noagaon union, turned to farming after earning a BSS degree, starting in 2009 and gradually moving from traditional to modern methods. In 2014 he was among the first farmers in Dhaka division to use mulching, beginning with tomatoes and snake gourd and later adding many local and foreign varieties.
He has built trellises around about five and a half bighas and grown the Kalachan and Tripti varieties of watermelon, with fish ponds underneath. Yellow and black watermelons hang in bunches from the trellises and are due to reach the market within a week. He also grows bitter gourd, bottle gourd and other vegetables on the pond banks, and local farmers come to him for advice.
“I was interested in farming even before my SSC exams. Instead of chasing a job I took up farming as a profession. I learned about modern methods on YouTube and took advice from the agriculture office. My produce sells at the Jatrabari and Gausia markets and fruit wholesalers. Farming is an independent profession. I now earn about Tk 50,000 a month on average,” he said. Mulching gives good yields for a small investment, he added, and he wants other farmers to adopt modern methods too.
Local farmers Zahir Alam and Ali Hossain said he has inspired others in the area, many of whom have changed their methods on his advice and become more profitable; he uses organic methods to control pests.
Sonargaon upazila agriculture officer Abu Sayeed Tareq said watermelon is a profitable, quick-growing crop: spending Tk 30,000 to Tk 35,000 a bigha can bring in more than Tk 1 lakh with good conditions and prices. Growing it on trellises in the rainy season is an innovative way to use waterlogged or fallow land and reduces disease, and because supply is lower at that time, farmers get better prices. The agriculture office is giving him technical advice and encouraging others to follow modern methods.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report