Golzar a model for Bogra farmers

An elderly farmer has become a role-model for other farmers by growing off-season hybrid beans in his two-bighas of land and earning good profit.

He is Golzar Hossain Bablu, 60, son of late Jahir Uddin Pramanik of Joypurpara under Dupchanchia upazila of the district.

While visiting the area last Friday, this correspondent saw the elderly farmer working enthusiastically in his bean field. His age does not dissuade him from working in the heat or in the rain.

Golzar Hossain said he used to cultivate paddy or sometimes vegetables on his two bighas of land, until he read a newspaper story about the success of a hybrid bean grower of Muladula area under Pabna district.

With the help of an agriculture officer, he went to Muladula and talked with the farmer about the process of farming hybrid bean. He bought seeds for Tk 2500, he added

He sowed the seeds on two bighas of land in the middle of May, and the beans started sprouting by the end of July. He has been reaping the crop for over a month, Golzar said.

He said he spent Tk 1.2 lakh on seeds, bamboo, cotton, labour and pesticide. He gets over one maund of beans per week, and the price is Tk 70-80 per kg in the market. He is hoping to make a profit of Tk 4-5 lakh in the current year, he added.

Sometimes the plants were attacked by pests, but he used pesticide at the suggestion of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and controlled the attack, Golzar said.

Local farmer Anis Ali said, seeing the honesty, determination and devotion of Golzar, some farmers of the area, including himself, have started cultivation of hybrid bean.