Relevant Picture of Agriculture

If anyone travels to Bara Kailati village of Netrakona Sadar upazila, he/she will find small, medium and big ponds after some intervals. In most of the ponds, fish is being cultivated in a planned manner. The ponds which remained derelict earlier were also brought under fish cultivation. A housewife of Bara Kailati village, Sabina Yasmeen, also a masters student, has become self-reliant, doing fish cultivation. She has not only become self-employed, but also created employment opportunities for others.

But life was not so comfortable even three or four years ago. She had a five-member family consisting of her two children and mother-in-law. Her husband Md. Golam Mohiuddin Khokon used to work as an accountant at BRAC, a non-governmental organization. With his lone income, he somehow maintained the family but it was hard to bear educational expenses of Sabina. Poverty was their constant companion. Alongside her husband, she wanted to do something to raise family income and began to search a way out. Being an educated woman, Sabina knew that many others too had been searching for self-employment opportunities taking training from Youth Development Directorate. She discussed the matter with her husband and underwent a training course on pisciculture at local Youth Development Directorate in 2011. But where will she get money for fish cultivation? She became desperate for money. At this stage, she came to know from some neighboring women that DAM Foundation for Economic Development (DFED) had been providing micro-credit loans to poor and disadvantaged villagers for alleviation of poverty and improving their livelihood. Even many women of the locality have attained success by involving themselves in income-generating activities. Taking suggestion from other group members, she enrolled herself there as its member on February 28 in 2011.

She took up pisciculture for a living taking first loan amounting to 30,000 taka from DFED for. Investing something for family purposes, she utilised the loan by releasing fry of Shing, Pangas and Telapia in her pond. Excluding cost of labour, fish feed and loan installments, she earned a net profit of 50,000 taka for the first time. Being encouraged by her success, she again took 50,000 taka as loan from DFED for the second time. She expanded her project adding her profit to this loan by taking lease of another pond. Initially, beginning pisciculture in a 50-decimal pond, now she cultivates fish in ponds measuring 120 decimals.

At present, Sabina cultivates fish thrice in ponds annually. For the fourth time, she took one lakh taka loan from DFED on March 23 this year and released 380-KG fry of different varieties in ponds. She also released fry in two nearby ponds. In June, she will sell fishes. The cost of fish production will be around four lakhs of taka. But Sabina expects she would be able to sell fish worth about seven lakhs of taka.

This way, Sabina earned lakhs of taka and became solvent in a planned manner. There is no want in family. With the profit, she has installed submersible pump at her house through which she supplies water to ponds. She thinks of constructing pucca houses. She has planned to cultivate fish in ponds measuring eight bighas within next year. She also thinks of rearing poultry by erecting tin sheds in the courtyard within a few months.

Sabina has gained popularity in her locality as a successful fish cultivator. She salutes DFED for providing necessary support to her. She believes that she had attained success in life because of her education. So, she wants to educate her two sons to establish them as good citizens of the country.