From darkness to light

Farmers plucking patal from fields at Taluigachha (left) and traders from Dhaka packing the vegetable after purchase (right). PHOTO: STAR

Now they are affluent farmers by cultivating patal (a summer vegetable).

It was a different scene at bordering Taluigachha village in Banshdah union in the Sadar upazila, about 13 kilometres from the district town.

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There were greens all around, covering about 250 acres of land. People were all smiles, plucking and packing patal and working in fields.

This vegetable has brought the villagers to light and luck from darkness.

Marginal former and landless share-croppers are now well off with hefty profits from their small holdings.

Rezwan Mollah, 56, and Fazlur Rahman, 45, of the village deserves the credit as they took the initiative four years back. Both used to carry smuggled goods or work as day labourers to feed their families.

In 2000, Rezwan Mollah leased 12 decimal land and sowed cuttings of high yielding variety of patal plants brought from a village across the border.

"I earned Tk 20,000 after paying Tk 4000 to the land owner that year", he told this correspondent during a visit to the village last week. He then expanded the cultivation.

This year, he leased two bighas of land at Tk 24000 and cultivated patal. He has already earned Tk 53,000 and expects to get more Tk 27000 after meeting the production cost. He has employed three men in his fields.

Rezwan Mollah said he was inspired by seeing the success of farmers in Amudia, Tarali and Hakimpur villages across the border in India.

"Seeing their success, I cultivated patal and because successful". The bordering lands in Bangladesh are also suitable for cultivation of this vegetable.

Marginal farmer Fazlur Rahman, of Taluigachha village cultivated the vegetable on his 40 decimal land and earned Tk 60,000 in 2001. He expects to earn Tk 70,000 this year.

"I have no training. Only experience helped me," he said.

His son Palash is an honours student at Dhaka College. Fortune smiled on him since he gave up smuggling and started patal cultivation three years back, he said. Now he employs three labourers.

Their success encouraged others in Taluigachha and neighbouring villages.

Share-cropper Akhtarul Islam, 35, son of Shahed Ali of Taluigachha was an unemployed young man. He leased 45 decimal land and cultivated patal. This year he has already earned Tk 30,000 and expects to get more Tk 26,000 after meeting the production cost including payment of Tk 14000 to the landowner.

Another marginal farmer Abul Kashem of the same village cultivated the vegetable in his two and a half bighas of land this year. He is expected to make profit of Tk 90,000.

Zahidul Islam has already earned T, 55,000 from his two and a half bighas of land.

Share-cropper Hafizul Islam, Asad, Rashid, Mokhafar Ali, Motaleb, Abul and some others of the same village are now happy as patal farming has changed their lot.

Helal, chairman of Banshdah Union Parishad said, most of the villagers at Taluigachha were poor and landless. They were engaged in smuggling or worked as day labourers.

'All most all the villagers have given up smuggling and are either cultivating patal or working in patal fields" he said.

He lamented that local agriculture officials did not come to assist or encourage them.

But they have problem also. The main problem is transporting the product to markets. They are often deprived of fair price by traders coming from Dhaka, who offer between Tk 200 and Tk 250 per maund, they said.