Nutritious foreign vegetables like asparagus see successful farming at Bujruk Shokra village in Shibganj upazila under the district, thanks to the initiative of farmer Ansar Ali.

Ansar, now 62, started asparagus cultivation on seven decimals of land with seeds collected from the capital in 1997, following suggestion from the agriculture officials of the district.

After some initial setback, he saw success from 2000.

"I cultivate 25 bighas of land in winter and 20 bighas in summer for supplying foreign vegetables to some star hotels in Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong. I get Tk 5-6 lakh as yearly profit by selling vegetables like asparagus, pepper, capsicum, sweet corn, hybrid cabbage, and hybrid onion".

"With the earning, I am running my family well and

purchased 13 bighas of land. Besides, I have created job opportunity for 40 locals at my farm".

"Delegations from foreign countries including Japan visited my farm. The Japanese team expressed hope of large-scale asparagus cultivation in the area by providing financial assistance and quality seeds to the farmers, " said Ansar Ali.

Encouraged to see his success, at least 20 farmers in the upazila are trying to

cultivate foreign vegetables with technological support from the Department of Agriculture Extension, said Shafiqul Islam, upazila agriculture officer of Shibganj.

For his outstanding success in cultivation foreign and local vegetables, Ansar Ali received an award titled Bangabandhu Jatiya Krishi Padak 1418 (Bangla year) and prize money of Tk 3.5 lakh on September 17 in 2011 from the government.