Rising to the challenge: Story of Md. Aminuddin
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From the quiet road out front, the farms in Sharsha Upazila of Barisal District look like a sleepy, semi-tropical estate with plants, and beds of flowers flourishing under the giant coconut trees. But up close, the farm is bustling with constant activity. Amid fields of various vegetable lies a small family farm owned by Md. Aminuddin. This 35 year old farmer has been living with his wife and two children and has been farming for 20 years. He grows different kinds of vegetables on his 12 bighas of land such as bitter gourd, sweet gourd, palwal, chlli, onion, and tomato. Today, Aminuddin’s farm is flourishing and his profit is increasing. How he achieved all of this is a story of personal initiative, perseverance and a well thought-out plan for success.
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Like many farmers in Sharsha, Aminuddin has struggled with his dependence on income from sweet gourd and bitter gourd almost since he started farming. The leaves started curling upward and yellowing and falling eventually. He went to pesticide dealers but never got any reliable solutions. "Life became more difficult and more complex and I had entered the abyss’ says Aminuddin. Having been heard of Grameen phone Community Information Center (CIC), he visited this center on an impulse. The solution was not found in the website ruralinfobd.com and thus he was prescribed the medicine Folicur by an agriculture specialist through the internet. He applied the medicine accordingly and noticed that after few days a great change has come to this farm. The soil looks and feels healthy and produces an abundance of healthy crops which are not affected by periods of wet or dry weather. Aminuddin earned a net profit of taka 75,000 and an astonishing net income of taka 1, 10,000 from his 4 bighas of land where he mostly grows sweet gourd and bitter gourd.
Aminuddin’s farming business has been resoundingly successful economically. In his own word he says "I would attribute that to the tremendous support I received from the people of GP CIC’.
Aminuddin has beaten the odds against young farmers, and is getting closer to his dream farm every day.
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