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Smile, hope all over

Farmers in Monga-prone Nilphamari see end to their miseries; harvesting new lean-season rice

Wasim Bin Habib, back from Nilphamari
The villagers of Laxmichap under Nilphamari sadar are over the moon unlike the time in the past when Monga (seasonal and localised famine) cast the long dark shadows of suffering with wholesale unemployment and mass exodus to towns turning the village into a bleak landscape.
Once Monga compelled a large number of villagers, mainly farm labourers and marginal farmers, to leave for other districts to forage for food and jobs during the lean period of October- November.
Quite contrary to this feature, people are now passing hectic time with harvesting the newly invented variety of aman rice and selling them in the markets as their misery suddenly disappeared.
The short-duration varieties like BRR1 dhan-33, and BINA dhan-7 developed by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) brought smiles on the faces of these marginal farmers.
The inhabitants of Laxmichap are now celebrating the metamorphosis of Kartik (a Bengali calendar month), known as "Mora Kartik" in the North.
The new varieties of rice have turned the arable lands into multi-crop ones opening up employment opportunities for a large number of local day labourers round the year. The farmers who used to idle away their times after the aman paddy plantation are now preparing for cultivation of winter vegetables and rabi crops.
"The days are changed as we have plenty of work now," said Odhor Chandra, a villager.
"We tfsed to eat kawn (a kind of cereal) and often we couldn't even manage fistful of rice in a week. Many people left the village in search of job but now they all are busy harvesting the rice," he said.
Dinesh Chandra Roy, a farmer, planted BRRI Dhan-33 on two bighas of land in the middle of June, and he harvested the yield on October 2. The yield was 15 mounds per bigha (33 decimal) of land, he told The Daily Star.
He said that he would be benefited because of the lower production cost and better sale prices in the offseason, as rice prices are usually lower during the peak harvest season in November-December.
Dr MA Mazid, hub manager of Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CS1SA) under a programme of International Rice Research Institute, said the early harvest of this variety generates employment opportunities for farm workers who traditionally remain unemployed creating an opportunity to fight Monga in the region.
He also maintained that the production cost of the early harvestable high yielding variety is also lower compared to traditional high yielding varieties like BR--11 and Swarna. The new rice varieties, which changed the lives of the Laxmichap villagers, were introduced three years back when Research Initiatives, Bangladesh (RIB) took an initiative to popularise them.
Narrating their success Chairman of RIB Dr Shamsul Bari told The Daily Star a number of government organisations and nongovernment organisations working on how to face Monga from a workshop in Rangpur in 2006 took a decision to work together to mitigate the crisis.
Then, RIB supported a concerted effort of several NGOs and government organisation to initiate a pilot research project in four northern districts of Rangpur. Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, and Kurigram where around 160 farmers of those districts were provided with seeds and training, he said.
In the follow-up next year, the rice variety got popularity among the farmers in the region, he added.
RIB, however, took Nilphamari as their research area where the BRR1 Dhan-33 became popular among the farmers of Laxmichap through a research approach of RIB named Gonogobeshona (people's research).
The research was carried out on the basis of preferences and the decisions of the communities, not those of the researchers.
Talking to The Daily Star during a recent visit to Laxmichap, the villagers said they sit at discussions once a week to get solution to their problems as part of the research programme.
We decided to cultivate BRRI Dhan-33 three years ago and since then we have never felt the pinch of Monga,' said Taru Bala, a villager and president of Gonogobeshona team in Laxmichap, adding that the Gonogobeshona is tremendously helping to eradicate poverty in their area.
Taru said they are now discussing building a seed bank to store rice seeds so that seeds are available during the rainy days.
Many agricultural scientists consider the research approach as an effective tool to spread technology among the people.
Dr Shamsul Bari said the main philosophy of the Gonogobeshona is that the local people themselves find out both the problems and solutions.
"Here, people are the agents for the change of their fates," he said, adding that it helps them to be aware of their rights.
RIB organised a two-day development fair in Laxmichap village on October 17 where the villagers celebrated the transformation of Kartik from a time of penury into a time of plenty.
Prior to the fair, a paddy harvest festival was organised. As part of the festival BRRI Dhan-33 was harvested at a nearby paddy field where the seeds were sown by a newly invented machine Power-Tiller Operating System (PTOS). Dr Shamsul Bari inaugurated the festival.
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute supplied the machine that gives higher yield at low cost and does the work in less time.
Apart from the traditional food stalls, there were stalls that tell the tales of the initiatives that help to ensure higher yield in the area.
The villagers participated in the fair with much enthusiasm. They rendered songs and performed dance and dramas that continued till midnight.