Farmer grows poison free vegetables

Amir Ali holding a 5 kilogram ool on his plot at Babra village under Kaliganj upazila in Jhenidah. Photo: Star

Amir Ali, 52, son of the late Samsuddin from Babra village under the Kaliganj upazila of the district, is a farmer who studied till class five and has an innovative power in agriculture bringing him fame in villages as well as the upazila town. His name now bears the trademark of his product.
Amir Ali inherited 20 decimals of land from his father. After which, he purchased 18 more. Since then, he has leased 5 bighas14 decimal land from other villagers on condition that he will provide 10 mounds of paddy per bigha to the owners.  
According Amir, his vegetable cultivating methods have never incurred any losses. Amir only uses organic fertilizer and no insecticides to grow edible bulbous akin to arum locally known (ool).
He cultivated 2 bighas 4 decimal land, this year which cost Tk 7,000-8,000. He harvested 8,750 kilograms of organically farmed poison free big arums which were sold for Tk 2,10,000. Customers come to his plot and collect the vegetable at a price of Tk 25 per kilogram. Apart from that, he has seeds roughly worth Tk 60,000. In addition, he has also cultivated big arums on two bighas of land which have not matured yet.
Moreover, he cultivates two kinds of vegetables on the same plot. If one crop is damaged or isn't profitable enough, the second one makes up for it. So he grows mate crops at the same time on the same plot.
Trained by a Japanese agriculturist Nagosi he rots the post harvest weeds and plants on the plot. So no extra fertilizer is required. Consequently, no pest attacks the vegetables. He says, no insecticide, no insects. He believes multi-cropping can be done on the same plot. He only uses organic fertilizer (cow dung).  He produces seeds himself. He always tries to produce something alternative than traditional. He was training in Panchagar on organic farming in 2003 and Bishnupur in Tangail in 2002.
He believes in order to live a happy life one does not need money, only contaminant free vegetables for healthy living. He agrees that more vegetables can be grown using chemical fertilizers and poisonous insecticides but doing so would compromise his family and others to the dangers of contamination.
He wants his only son to have a higher education. He has no savings at the bank, all he wants is to invest more in vegetable farming. Amir also plans to spread the merits and demerits of fresh vegetables across the country.
Vegetable trader Shahidul Islam of Kaliganj upazila town said, ool provided by Amir Ali sells like hotcakes due to its taste and the absence of contaminants. When customers hear that it is Amir's ool they are buying, they do so without bargaining.
A retailer, Harendra Nath Biswas said, customers seek Amir's vegetable. They have faith in Amir Ali because they know it is poison free and fresh.
SM Shahin Hossain, in-charge of Center for Organic farming of Hunger Free World said, Amir is different from other farmers. His optimism always leads him to think of alternative and creative methods. He has never incurred a loss and his name is now a trademark in the market.