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Technology and farming in Bamna: the Case of Shankar
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Mr. Shankar who hails from Bamna Upazila in the district of Barisal is well known as one of the successful progressive farmers of the district. The 25 year old farmer along with his dad and three brothers are into the family business of farming with a total land holding of about 1 acre. He cultivates cauliflower, brinjal, potato, and bitter gourd and cabbage. He has been having a terrible time with his bitter gourd planted in spring 2009. After a month, the leaves were turning yellow and the produce looked unhealthy. He was also noticing brown spots on potatoes which were rotting in front of his eyes and he was at a loss of ideas on what to do. He tried applying medicines suggested by pesticide dealers but it was a vain attempt. This prompted him to visit the Grameen Phone Community Information Center. The entrepreneur looked up for the solutions in the website ruralinfobd.com and provided Shankar with his solutions. Shankar followed his instructions and accordingly applied the medicines in his field and the result was astonishing.
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He was able to save almost 75% of the crops. After harvesting, he is expecting a gross return of 35,000 taka in the coming year. His production costs totals 20,000 taka and is expecting a net profit of about taka 15,000. This proved to be a real turning point in his life. His economic situation is improving with a march toward prosperity.
Shankar’s huge success gained his self confidence and the willingness to overcome any hurdles in agriculture by visiting the center every time he faces problems. Shankar in his own words says ‘Ami ekhon chintai korte pari na je Krishi kaj CIC chara kora jai, Krishi kajer joto shob shomossha ache oi CIC theke pawa jai, eita asholei obak howar ekta bishoi’ translated as ‘I can’t imagine farming without the help of the CIC, the amount of hassle it takes out of agriculture production is nothing short of amazing’ says Shankar. He informed his farmer brethrens who have been facing similar problems with their crops about the center. He told them that no crop will fail unless the farmer wants it to. He believes that all the farmers need to do is to visit the center every time they are facing a problem and get the solution within 24 hours. As a result they can feed plants at the right time with the right quantity of water and fertilizers, and protect them from any major virus attacks by spraying pesticides and harvesting the fruits at the right time.
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