United they change their lot
30 unemployed youths join hands and earn Tk 30 lakh from maize farming on fallow Teesta shoals in Kaunia
A Correspondent, Rangpur
They have shaken off the scar of unemployment by joining hands to cultivate maize. A bumper production on 50 hectares of land in fallow Teesta shoals is going to change the life of 30 youths."We will earn a profit of at least 30 lakh after meeting costs", Shafiqul Islam, one of the youths, told this correspondent during a visit to their maize fields in Kaunia Upzila last week. The crop is being harvested. Islam said the estimated production is around 45 maunds per bigha. They are selling the maize at Tk 300 per maunds. This will make a profit of over Tk 9000 per bigha after meeting the production cost of Tk 4000. Traders from Dhaka and other areas are buying the maize, he said. The youths are now planning to grow the same crop on high lands in the area and other businesses with the money. The 30 youths formed an association styled Char Chatra Cooperative Society to grow maize in Maya Bazar, Char Chatra, Char Mornea and Mollah Tari shoals. Safiqul Islam is secretary of the society. Maize cultivation on the fallow Teesta shoal is its maiden venture. "People called us mad when we sow maize seeds on the Teeata Shoal. We did not care. We continued to nurse the field. "We started with bare hands without a penny. Fortune smiled on us", he said standing on the maize field. "We brought under cultivation lands which were never utilised". "We were unemployed and frustrated. We decided to do something together. We thought of maize cultivation and proposed to some landlords to lease land. None agreed. "Finally, we decided to cultivate maize on fallow Teesta shoals. We leased 50 hectares in the shoals on condition to pay Tk 300 per bigha to the owners after harvest. Abdul Karim, a landlord in Char Chatra, said he never thought of growing any crop on his land in the shoal. "When they proposed, I at once agreed to lease the lands to Char Chatra Cooperative Society". Safiqul Islam said, "Credit also goes to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), WINROK, a donor agency and Eco Social Development (ESDO), a local NGO. WINDROK has financed us and Kounia Upzila DAE and ESDO provided us technical support." Islam said they had thought there would be problem in marketing. "We are now worry free as wholesale traders have offered to purchase it from fields".
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