<i>Save soil the green way </i>

13 July 2010, 18:00 PM

Porimol Palma

Abdul Basith Selim

Agro entrepreneur Abdul Basith Selim provides a glaring example of how agriculture could be hugely profitable without the use of chemical fertilisers or pesticides, and ensuring quality management of natural resources that save the ecology at the same time. Selim innovated a mechanism to save soil quality from iron or arsenic from the underground water used for irrigation in the paddy fields. He produces indigenous varieties of fine and aromatic rice, using high quality compost made of cow dung and oilcake. Selim, managing director of Basith Krishi Prokalpa Ltd, shared his success yesterday with The Daily Star at the two-day rice fair at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka. It was jointly organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and International Rice Research (IRRI) marking the latter's 50th anniversary. At the fair, he is exhibiting 54 varieties of local fine and aromatic rice produced by him and contract growers in Sylhet. Selim was an importer of agro-products from India. On one fine morning in 1990, he found a truck full of fine rice transported to a market in Sylhet from Dinajpur. Curiously, he asked the trader the cost of the rice. "I was astonished to find that a full truck of rice was worth Tk 4.5 lakh, whereas the same quantity of general variety rice costs only Tk 2.4 lakh," he said. That inspired him to produce fine and aromatic rice in Sylhet, where large agricultural lands remain fallow, as many people of that area depend on overseas jobs for their livelihoods, he added. He bought seeds -- Chinigura and Kalijira from Dinajpur -- and tried those out on several types of lands. "Fine rice was best grown on high lands," he said, adding that he knew the benefits of using cow dung and oilcake. "I prepare the land well. Before planting seedlings, I apply cow dung and oilcake and plough the land several times. Then I irrigate the field and leave it exposed to sunlight and for around three weeks," Selim said. The compost makes the land fertile, he added. "I observed that ground water brings with it some iron that reddens soil. I learned that iron damages the absorbing capacity of soil," Selim said. He then identified that underground water should not be applied to the field directly. In the middle of his field, he makes a small water reservoir to store the pumped water before irrigation. He also keeps some cow dung and hyacinth, so that any iron or arsenic present deposits at the bottom in about three days. Then, he opens the pipes installed at the edge of the reservoir, allowing the water to irrigate the fields. In addition, to control pests, he hangs a light in the reservoir at night that draws insects in to die, he said. Thus, as there is no need for chemical fertilisers or insecticides, production cost of fine rice is around Tk 25,000 a hectare. Selim grows over 5 tonnes of rice per hectare, the price of which is Tk 1 lakh. From a hectare, a farmer can make net profit worth Tk 75,000. To make oilcake, he grows mustard seeds during the dry season, which also helps maintain freshness of the soil, said Selim, adding that the demand for fine aromatic rice is increasing both at home and abroad. Since 1994, he started campaigning the method and now has over 40 contract farmers to grow fine rice. He grows around 70 lakh tonnes of fine rice a year during Aman season on some 200 acres of land. "I sell rice to exporters and superstores." Finding it more profitable, many farmers are growing fine rice following his method, which is environment-friendly. "We must take care of the environment. Otherwise it will not save us."