The house wife and well known farmer (Krishani) Zohra Begum of Rajarhat upazila in Kurigram district is now self-reliant who gave marry her three girls cultivating different varieties of vegetables on her only 40 decimals of land. She has established herself as a successful farmer. Sometimes she had to bear losses. She shook off her disappointment and focused on farming with renewed enthusiasm. But for the first time, she surprised everyone by cultivating bitter gourds using mulching method with eco-friendly polythene.

Zohra Begum is a resident of Mirerbari area under ​​Chinai Union of Rajarhat Upazila, known as the dark side of vegetables in Kurigram district. After three daughters and two sons came into the world, she spent the night in great anxiety. Her husband Mansour Ali buys pieces of wood and sells them for six mills. Profit is not that much. Her only 40 decimals of land had already been handed over to others as mortgage.  Zohra Begum joined various associations due to poverty. After receiving training she started farming on the land herself. Boys and girls are also involved in her work. She cultivates various kinds of crops including potato, pepper, potal, gourd, bitter gourd, chichinga in different seasons in the land. Thus she used to agricultural work every day for development of her children and family. As a result, interest increases in new cultivation. So this time she has cultivated bitter gourds using mulching method for the first time in this area with eco-friendly polythene. Local people know nothing about this method. As a result, they were also waiting for the benefits of farming like this.

Zohra Begum said, I have suffered a lot in my life. Sometimes I passed the day without eating. When I got involved in farming, the lack of family started to disappear a little. After settling down a bit, I got a little bit of money and gave marry three girls one by one selling these vegetables. This land saved me from danger and made me a place of honor. Now I am passing the day fairly well with two sons.

However, vegetable cultivation with mulching method has appeared with new possibilities. This time, she cultivated bitter gourd for the first time with eco-friendly polythene. At first there was apprehension about the result. But after some days she was seeing more and more hope. She got fertilizer, seeds and eco-friendly polythene support with the help of local Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) Bangladesh.  RDRS has helped her with Taka 10,000.

On the other hand, Zohra Begum bought 40 bamboos at the price of one hundred Taka each and made a fence with her husband and son. She surrounded the land with a net after spending two thousand Taka to protect from cattle. Apart from that, they themselves have cultivated the land including removing weeds etc.

Zohra Begum also said that they themselves have done the work of workers. As a result, it did not cost much. I was able to prepare land for only 7 thousand taka. The best part is that by mulching, bitter gourd can be harvested a month earlier than other gourds. As a result, bitter gourds can be sold at a higher price that month. In the beginning, she sold gourds at the price of 2 thousand 400 taka. This medium sized bitter gourd is not very bitter. There is a lot of demand in the market. As a result, she can sell two to three mounds of bitter gourds every week.  She has managed to sell worth taka 50 thousand of gourds. It may be sold this gourd for another 2/3 months. In the future, I want to give marry my son as he will gets a new wife, the female farmer said.

The curry of bitter gourd vegetables as well as its juice is very useful for diabetic patients, several doctors said.

Bhiddut Kumar Shaha, team leader of RDRS Rangpur division said that the cost of bitter gourd cultivation is generally high. Stormy rains and severe droughts cause extensive damage to bitter gourds. But the mulching method is safer as the bitter gourd plant is covered inside high polythene. We are conducting this program under the Integrated Agriculture Unit with the financial support of Pally karma Shahayok Foundation to involve common farmers in smart agriculture.

Rajarhat Upazila Agricultural Officer Saifunnahar said, currently bitter gourd is one of the high value crops. Bitter gourd has made a place in the list of people’s food. If farmers are made aware of the mulching method, it can be widely expanded. Farmers will benefit greatly by cultivating bitter gourd in advance.