A Bottomless Basket or a Basket of Food?

The US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Dan Mozena, noted that Bangladesh has left behind the label of a bottomless basket – as former US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger once called it – and is showing improvement in many aspects, especially in the field of agriculture. He was impressed to see the change in harvesting methods among farmers of Fulbaria village in Mirpur upazila (sub-district) of Kushtia, Bangladesh.

CSISA MIInvited by the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in May to visit the Go Green Project of Hridoye Maati o Manush Program (soil and men in heart), Ambassador Mozena made use of the occasion to also visit the CSISA-Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) project, which is partnered with DAE. At the CSISA-MI project site in Fulbaria village, Ambassador Mozena witnessed a demonstration of one of the newest agri-technologies in Bangladesh – the reaper machine. As part of the CSISA-MI promoted agri-machineries, the reaper allows rapid harvesting and subsequent replanting of the next crop within the recommended planting window. It also allows farmers to save money on labor, the prices of which tend to increase drastically during harvest season, while freeing up time for other activities. In addition to DAEas the public sector partner, CSISA-MI has also partnered with machine manufacturer ACI to import and sell the reaper in Bangladesh.

The ambassador was pleased to see that farmer Abdur Rahman hired the services of Md. Rabiul Islam, a local service provider (LSP) to use the reaper for harvesting his rice field. Rabiul informed Ambassador Mozena that the cost of the ACI reaper is BDT 1,85,000 (US$ 2,370), adding that the utilization of the machine has proven to be profitable. “Earlier, I had to engage four day-laborers at a price of BDT 1,200 (US$ 15.49) per bigha (0.06 hectares) of land, but now with the reaper I only spend BDT 600 (US$ 7.74) per bigha.”

Responding to the ambassador’s query on how much he was charging farmers for the services of his reaper, Rabiul said, “I charge BDT 600 (US$7.74) per bigha and my cost to run the machine is only BDT 100 (US$ 1.29).” The reaper now provides Rabiul a valuable additional source of income to supplement his earnings from the power tiller, pump and small amount of land.

The ambassador noted that the use of the reaper has reduced the harvesting cost for the farmers and also benefits the service providers. Congratulating CSISA-MI for its efforts in promoting modern agricultural technologies, hesaid, “The farmers are changing their practices and along with them the country is changing and advancing. This Bangladesh is not a bottomless basket; this is a basket overflowing with food.”

Launched in Bangladesh in 2013 under US President Obama’s Feed the Future Initiative, CSISA-MI seeks to transform agriculture in southern Bangladesh by unlocking the potential productivity of the region’s farmers during the dry season, while conserving the land’s ability to produce quality crops in the long term through surface water irrigation, efficient agricultural machinery and local service provision.

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Posted on Bangladesh-news, News - Homepage, December 11, 2014


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