Expert paddy seed farmer

If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well. It's a saying that farmer Jatindranath Barmon Jatin, 70, from Batrishazari village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila's Mogholhat union, puts into practice. Hard at work from morning until evening, Jatin prides himself on producing paddy seed. To seed companies, non-government organisations and local farmers, Jatin has earned quite a reputation as a quality seed producer.

“Jatin is very conscientious,” says Moslem Uddin, a field supervisor from a seed company. “We buy paddy and also vegetable seeds from him due to the good quality of his produce.”

“In eight years of sourcing seeds from Jatin, I've never had a complaint,” agrees Tabedul Islam Tuhin, a seed trader in Lalmonirhat town's Goshala Bazar.

“Jatin Kaka is our asset,” says Abdul Quader, 58, another farmer in Batrishazari. “He's like our guardian, someone to go to for advice on how to grow paddy, vegetables or other crops properly.”

What's Jatin's secret? The farmer who studied only to Class V and has nine acres of landholdings on which he has produced paddy seed for the last ten years, has this advice: “For fertiliser, I use compost. Chemical fertilisers should be avoided. A serious farmer should take care of his crop every single day. But any farmer can produce quality seed if he sincerely wishes to.”

For Jatin, it's been a winning strategy. This year he is hopeful of achieving his highest ever production. “This year I am working five acres,” he says. “The other four acres I worked last year. I have planted Aman rice and hope to harvest up to 280 maunds of seed paddy.” Last year the seed paddy sold for Tk 1200 per maund. With production costs hovering around Tk 20,000 per acre there are profits to be made. And Jatin has the benefit of sales in advance: his crop is sought after.

By his side, Jatin's son Ranjit Chandra Barmon who studied to Class VIII is there to help his father. He too is impressed. “Sometimes I fall sick but my father? I never saw him ill. He works in the field the whole day! And his strategy is to invest in more land as he can; he doesn't favour savings in cash.”

“For us, Jatin Da is the ideal farmer,” says neighbouring farmer Nitish Chandra Barmon, 62. “He knows how to get the best results from any crop, but especially seed. From the market it's hardly possible to get seed of comparable quality so we buy direct from him.”