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Folk-culture in Transfer of Technology

by Abdur Razzaque
f ■ song of the living sw-ectmeat' Is an Inn
XX ovative folk musical narrative with the drama of rural life sandwir hed in II. Il centre* around a life tormented with despondency and scepticism tn a land, where human existence has seriously been endangered due to alarming contraction In na tures benevolence The ultimate objective of ihl* cultural enterprise 1*. therefore, to bring about a ray of new hope and dream In that fast eroding system of life. The Immediate goal of this endeavour is to generate awareness of the ur gency of proper maintenance of soil characteristics In fact it endeavours to advocate and popularise the application of biofertiliscr technology so that the organic matters available in the soil can proliferate In a desired manner and. thus, they can add to the fertility of the soil, which is considered as the best of all mothers by the rural folk of this region.
As the rural folk is the sole
target of this cultural enterprise, It strictly adheres to the style of our folk-cultural tradl lion, which ha* a high credibll tty tn the eye* of the villagers It Is. tn fact, their legitimate possession and It forms an Intrinsic part of their life, it Is here, where they can have their authentic voice of their own in terms of their understanding. experience and con science and In this way they can build a secure sense of Identity, an essential component for effective participation tn their own development and change processes. So their languages, beliefs, idioms, musk- and images have been given due preferences tn the composition and presentation of this innovative folk-musical drama.
Ils dramatic part has been presented in a folk-musical coaling. demanding the
rhythm of music In the dialogues uttered by various character* of the drama. Therefore, they communicate In a fan guage couched In poetic metre. We know, the measured utterance* of a metrical composition add heavenly wings to the language we use In our day to-dav life and it is. thus, elevated to a sort of classical' grandeur. Besides, it plays a significant rok in understanding of the subject-matter and memorising its essence for a longer period.
In the salutation part of the narrative, the traditional Uayatf or the chronicler takes us to a land of rippling rivers with shining sun in the blue sky and a vast plane covered with deep patches of green, a symbol of mirth and vitality. Terming the golden Bangladesh as a sustaining source of endk-ss possibilities
and potentials, the chronicler very rightly gives stress on the optimal utilisation of her basic resources, namely, the man. land and water resources that abound tn rural areas. But. he says, the people here are always not very careful in the balanced use of chemical fertilisers Ihal result* In the fast deterioration of the chemical and bio-physical properties of soil and. thus, accelerating the process of environmental degradation. Moreover, the price Increases of chemical fertiliser go beyond the reach of the small farmer*. Nevertheless. In s land-hungry country like ours, they are to rely heavily on the use of chemical fertiliser for higher yield of food grains.
In this context, a small farmer Abu Mlah leaves for the nearby town lo purchase chemical fertilisers for himself. But he fails to procure the needed quantity of fertilisers for sky-kissing price. In utter despair he comes back and stare* helplessly al the green paddy field turning yellowish, sitting on the ridge of hl* small plot of land And with the lamenting Abu, the drama moves on.
There enter* Budhai, a simpleton young fellow and a neighbour of Abu. They talk on sudden price-hike of fertilisers only to find no way out. At this point, Munshi, a religious teacher of the village make* his appearance and advises' them lo have patience. To have confidence in the omnipotent Allah, who can help overcome all dangers and calamities. Can turn the lifeless desert Into a smiling greenery within the
twinkling of an eye Abu and Budhai fervently seek blessings from Allah.
A* soon as the religious leader leaves, the sight of Budhai falls on the field worker (FW), a village level change agent who is on hts way to a demonstration farm to de liver the packets of biofertiliser carrying in a bag. Budhai draw* the attention of the man and when he come* toward* them with a hanging bag tn one of hl* *houlders. Budhai assert* naively that those in the bag of FW must be the packets of fresh sweetmeats Th. FW replies him jokingly Ihal those are nothing but the pack, is of living sweetmeat. Howe' ■ ' Abu learns from the field worker that hts land has been suffering from severe nutrient deficiencies because of Indiscriminate application of chemical fertilisers and successive culture of monotype of crop* The FW says, the nitrogen which 1* abundant In the atmosphere we live in. is the most deficient nutrient that limits crop production In our country and the urea Is largely used lo offset this loss of soil nutrient. He further states that the researchers have been working on biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) technology and have developed quite a good number of biofertiitser inoculant* for variou* leguminous crops, viz. lentil, chickpea, mungbean. blackgram. pea. pi-geonpea, gras* pea. cowpea, soybean, Sesbanla and groundnut. They have yielded encouraging result* tn the meanwhile.
The FW show* them the packets of biofertiliscr consist
Ing of Rhizoblum bacteria mixed tn peat soil and explains the benefit of ft* use in land Including the method* of application*. The fertiliser dealer, a profiteering businessman. who made hi* ap pearance during ihe course of their discussion, plead* the favour of the FW for i**ulng him a business licence of biofertiliser. However, as he learns that It requires special care which hl* shop cannot ensure, he feels rather discouraged.
But the message of btofcr liliser brings a new hope in the mind of the rural poor and specially Abu and Budhai. it comes as the message of human liberation
Here ends the dramatic part of the narrative. The chronicler furnishes us further information on the small family of Abu with his wife and a
daughter and a clear happiness Is discernible there because of his timely application of btofertlllser and rotational cropping pattern. And happily conclude* the Uayatl:
Sugar, honey and manda are sweet Indeed, but
the sweetness of mother* smile is without
an equal.
It's water by which we quench our thirst, when thirsty
It's btofertlllser, the living sweetmeat of the soil
by which are properly nourished the soil nutrients.
Il I*, therefore, evident that the btofertlllser Inoculum ha* allegorically been named a* the living sweetmeat for the soil. This folk-cultural medium was used for on-farm transfer of btofertlllser technology developed by a team of scientist* under the leadership of Dr. AM
Sattar. Principal Scicntillc Officer of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) Initially, the folk cultural pre sentatton was videoed and used in farmers training pro grammes as teaching materials that generated much Interest among the trainees
The present folk-cultural experimentation has been grounded on our glorious folk-cultural heritage and. in a creative manner. It has paid respect to peasants culture, taking their frame of mind Into consideration so os to sharpen their sense of dignity while handing over new technology to them It ought to be re membered that dignity is a fundamental requirement for effective action toward development
(Mr Abdur Razzaque. the author of this article, is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Bengali and Director of Public Relations and Pub licatton office of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU). Myrnensingh. )