Lalmonirhat farmers grow chemical-free vegetables

Farmers of 10 villages under Lalmonirhat Sadar, Aditmari and Kaliganj upazilas are growing chemical-free vegetables, using vermicompost.

They are getting expected output and are also earning windfall profit after meeting the cultivation costs. 

Farmers at Panchagram, Sindurmati, Selimnagar, Mahendranagar, Khedabag villages under Lamonirhat Sadar upazila; Kamlabari, Hajiganj and Palashi villages under Aditmari upazila, and Kakina and Baninagar villages under Kaliganj upazila; are producing vermicompost with earthworms and cow dung.

Vermicompost producer Basanti Rani, 55, wife of Harish Chandra Roy of Panchagram village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, said she purchased 200 earthworms from a local NGO and produced the fertiliser. “I produced 56 kgs of vermicompost with 200 earthworms. I cultivated bottle gourd, cucumber and coriander on 16 decimals of land beside our homestead by using vermicompost this year, and I got expected production,” she said.

Mohana Rani Devnath, 45, wife of Narayan Chandra Devnath in Sindurmati village of the upazila said, “We have been producing chemical-free vegetables, using vermicompost.  We are also selling some vegetables in the local market after meeting the family's demand.”

Bijo Rani, 44, wife of Krishna Kanto Roy of the same village, said she purchased 430 earthworms and has been producing sufficient vermicompost for farming vegetables on her 35 decimals of land at the village.

Babul Chandra Roy, 35, a farmer at Panchagram village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, said chemical-free vegetables are in high demand at the village, and locals purchase the vegetables at higher prices.

Shyamol Chandra Barmon, 50, of Sindurmati village said he cultivated red leafy, bottle gourd, carrot, snake gourd and napa shak on 40 decimals of land by using vermicompost. He doesn't go to the local market for selling the vegetables as villagers come to his home to purchase them giving high prices, he said.

If all the farmers grow chemical-free vegetables by using vermicompost in their lands, it will meet people's demand for chemical-free foods.