Some months ago smallholder farmers of Nakati village, Kendua Union in the Upazila Jamalpur Sadar were not ready to believe that vegetable cultivation could bring fortune to them, but now they are. Four neighbor farmers, Rotna Begum (25), Fatema Begum (30), Jomila Begum (35) and Amir Uddin (40) set an example. They started a small enterprise, cultivating mixed vegetables in a multi-layer system and after a few months of cultivation started harvesting success. Many of the villagers became interested to follow their example and start vegetable cultivation to make a better livelihood.
How did it all start?
After receiving training in vegetable cultivation at the end of 2012, their neighbor, Amir Uddin (not a project beneficiary himself), became very interested hearing about the training that Rotna, Fatema and Jomila received. As members of a beneficiary group under the Cross-border project, the three women got training on multi-layered vegetable cultivation from Happy Khatun, a local service provider (LSP) trained under the same project. In January 2013 the four families agreed to lease together 0.52 acre of fallow land in their village. Each of them paid a quarter of the cost of BDT 100,000 for a period of three years, under the condition that after three years they will give the land back to the owner and get the full amount reimbursed. The land is cultivable the whole year around as it is usually not flooded and they have access to water for which they pay on a monthly basis BDT 4,000.
So far, the business partners invested about BDT 120,000 to cultivate vegetables including purchasing quality seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, making a frame for the layers (macha), watering, labor cost, etc. To start up their vegetable production they felt they needed more and regular support and requested Happy Khatun and the service provider in marketing Shafiqul Islam for support and guidance. They agreed to pay them BDT 3,000 each to receive a yearlong service from both service providers. “We are very much thankful to our LSPs. We started cultivating in January and by May 2013 we sold 4,400 kg vegetables for a total of BDT 70,400. After having a hard time making a living, now with the blessing of God we have achieved success and set an example for the local community,” said Rotna Begum.
They are cultivating vegetables using a multi-layered system growing mixed vegetables and are cultivating thirteen different vegetables; sweet gourd, kang kong, yard long bean, snake gourd, bottle gourd, red amaranth, amaranth, Indian spinach, ash gourd, pointed gourd, ridge gourd, sponge gourd and bitter gourd. “When we started our project we were determined but also insecure to some extent because we invested quite a lot of money. After seeing our work about 8-10 farmers including some other beneficiaries of the Cross-border project showed their interest to start similar activities. And they also want to take the necessary services from LSPs”, said Amir Uddin.
LSP Happy Khatun provides advice on vegetables cultivation and LSP Shafiqul Islam provides marketing and business promotion related services like business planning, market price information, and how to handle vegetables after harvesting. The four producers are already linked with different input and output market actors and get services from selected actors on quality seeds, pesticides, fertilizer, etc. Technical LSP Happy Khatun said, “The land was totally fallow earlier. When they (Rotna, Jomila, Fatema, Amir) came to me and asked for my support for vegetable cultivation I was a little bit unsure. But they were so determined and had faith in my expertise. This gave me courage and inspiration to do something different with my knowledge and experience.” The four partners are planning to grow vegetables the whole year round and, as per their business plan, they expect to grow this year 25,200 kg of vegetables; 600 kg they will use for their families and distribute to relatives and neighbors and 24,600 kg vegetables will be sold on markets. According their business plan they expect to sell for a total of BDT 500,000 in the city markets of Jamalpur and Mymensingh.
After observing the success of the four partners in vegetable cultivation and marketing, the local community became enthusiastic and is interested to adopt the same technology. “The success of the vegetable business not only attracted local farmers, but also got attention of the local Agriculture Agency’s officials. Representatives of local agriculture agency came to visit the vegetable farm and showed their interest to replicate this type of projects in other areas”, said Md. Mazharul Islam, Adviser-LSP, Cross-border project.
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| Rotna, Fatema, Jamila & Amir in their vegetable field |
After receiving training in vegetable cultivation at the end of 2012, their neighbor, Amir Uddin (not a project beneficiary himself), became very interested hearing about the training that Rotna, Fatema and Jomila received. As members of a beneficiary group under the Cross-border project, the three women got training on multi-layered vegetable cultivation from Happy Khatun, a local service provider (LSP) trained under the same project. In January 2013 the four families agreed to lease together 0.52 acre of fallow land in their village. Each of them paid a quarter of the cost of BDT 100,000 for a period of three years, under the condition that after three years they will give the land back to the owner and get the full amount reimbursed. The land is cultivable the whole year around as it is usually not flooded and they have access to water for which they pay on a monthly basis BDT 4,000.
So far, the business partners invested about BDT 120,000 to cultivate vegetables including purchasing quality seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, making a frame for the layers (macha), watering, labor cost, etc. To start up their vegetable production they felt they needed more and regular support and requested Happy Khatun and the service provider in marketing Shafiqul Islam for support and guidance. They agreed to pay them BDT 3,000 each to receive a yearlong service from both service providers. “We are very much thankful to our LSPs. We started cultivating in January and by May 2013 we sold 4,400 kg vegetables for a total of BDT 70,400. After having a hard time making a living, now with the blessing of God we have achieved success and set an example for the local community,” said Rotna Begum.
They are cultivating vegetables using a multi-layered system growing mixed vegetables and are cultivating thirteen different vegetables; sweet gourd, kang kong, yard long bean, snake gourd, bottle gourd, red amaranth, amaranth, Indian spinach, ash gourd, pointed gourd, ridge gourd, sponge gourd and bitter gourd. “When we started our project we were determined but also insecure to some extent because we invested quite a lot of money. After seeing our work about 8-10 farmers including some other beneficiaries of the Cross-border project showed their interest to start similar activities. And they also want to take the necessary services from LSPs”, said Amir Uddin.
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| Ash Gourd in the vegetable field |
After observing the success of the four partners in vegetable cultivation and marketing, the local community became enthusiastic and is interested to adopt the same technology. “The success of the vegetable business not only attracted local farmers, but also got attention of the local Agriculture Agency’s officials. Representatives of local agriculture agency came to visit the vegetable farm and showed their interest to replicate this type of projects in other areas”, said Md. Mazharul Islam, Adviser-LSP, Cross-border project.
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