|
Road to Prosperity for Pankaj Karmakar
|
|
Pankaj Karmakar is a 22 year old mango farmer of Bamna Upazila of Barisal district. He lives with his mother, father, brother and sister in law. In his land, he grows a variety of crops throughout the year-mango, brinjal, bottle gourd, papaya, banana, hyacinth bean and also cultivates fish. His problem was with mango tree; fruit infection causing mangoes to fall off before maturing and resulting in serious decay problems in the orchard. The disease is contagious and was affecting most of the mango trees. ‘When I faced problems like these, I usually went to the Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officer for solutions but my problems were never taken care of’, says Pankaj. He says that he enjoys seeing the crop grow, but feels down when it is attacked by diseases. “It feels as though one of our family members is sick” says the farmer. As his last resort, he decided to go to the Community Information Center (CIC) of Grameen Phone to seek help for his problems. He learned about this center by participating in a courtyard meeting organized by the center.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The Brand Promoter (BP) of the center went to Pankaj’s field and took a picture of the affected crop. Since the solution was not found in the website ruralinfobd.com, the picture was emailed to an agriculture specialist who identified the problem and prescribed medicines via internet. The names of the medicines were Liboren Boron and Roton.
The medicines which he got from the center proved to be unquestionably effective. ‘The benefits I have enjoyed by taking solution from the CIC are certainly worth having, and I have already recommended the service of this center to other farmers’ states Pankaj. He feels that it was because of the good recommendations given by the agriculture specialist that he has been able to harvest a good crop. Though he was reluctant to visit the center initially today he does not look back and is extremely happy that he took the right decision. The mangoes now grow well, taste great, and ripen earlier than in any other mango growing areas of the region, giving them a marketing edge.
He explained the benefits of the center to his fellow farmers and convinced them to visit the center when they face any agricultural problems. Pankaj is one of a growing number of farmers who have benefited from this e-krishok project that is hailed as a developmental model for the future.
|
|
|
|
|