‘Organic village’ of female farmers

This year's theme of International Women's Day — “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change” aptly fits with the achievement of women farmers at Maheshwarchanda village in Jhenidah's Kaliganj upazila, where the change-makers' innovative steps help promote gender equality and women's empowerment.

Kaliganj is very rich in agricultural diversity. Walking beside the Chitra river, one would see fields covered with various crops. Winter vegetables, sugarcane, betel leaf, guava, baukul (Bau variety of plum) are on fields. Large patches of land are covered with marigolds. Boro paddy is planted in relatively low lands. Farmers are earning well by cultivating different varieties of fruits and crops here. Farmers know that soil is the source of their livelihood. And so, they are conscious enough to take care of the soil. They are encouraged to use organic fertilizer more and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers.

Dear readers, today, I will take you to a village of organic farming. The village is known as Maheshwarchanda. The commercial production of vermicompost or worm fertilizer in this village and some nearby ones has already generated great response in the country.

Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam wrote in a song of his, "The soil of my country is purer than pure gold." But that soil is losing its purity due to unplanned cultivation, excessive tilling and massive use of chemical fertilizers. Thus, fertility of the soil is gradually decreasing. Currently, there is about 79.46 lakh (7.9 million) hectares of arable land in the country. And the organic components of these cultivable lands play the most effective role in maintaining quality of the soil. Ideally, the amount of organic compound in the soil is supposed to be five percent. But in most areas of Bangladesh, the amount of organic compound has dropped below one percent, which is a matter of great concern. The main reason for this is the increased intensity of high yielding crops and excessive use of chemical fertilizers. Various types of programmes, both public and private, have been taken to find a solution to this problem. Campaigns to encourage production of organic fertilizer are being conducted in rural areas to signify the importance of organic fertilizers. Maheshwarchanda village of Jhenidah's Kaliganj upazila has become a role model. Here, in every household, farmers are making vermicompost, which is truly a rare example in the country.

For More: https://www.thedailystar.net/country/news/organic-village-female-farmers-1711663

Posted by admin on Mar 12 2019. Filed under Organic agriculture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry