Producing vermicompost makes Fatema self-reliant

Once extreme poverty forced her to steal date palm juice from others' tree to eat as she could not bear appetite. To feed children, she had to beg to collect food. Now she is self-reliant but the solvency came through her relentless fighting with poverty for long.  

Producing vermicompost fertilizer helped her getting rid of poverty. Apart from producing the fertilizer, she cultivates rice, and different vegetables. 

Fatema Begum lives in a tin shed house in 'khas land' on the bank of Shirish Khal beside Balakandar village in Kaliganj upazila of Jhenidah.

While talking with Fatema, she shared her story of struggling life with this correspondent. 

Grown in poor family, Fatema got married when she was just 11. In the husband's house, always she had to fight with poverty to lead life, and hope of a happy life turned into woe.

After 10 years of their conjugal life, her husband died after being affected by an incurable disease. In husband’s, deep dark descends to her life with a boy and a daughter.   

After her husband’s death, repression by people in-laws added much hardship to heartbroken Fatema’s life that forced her to flee at a night. 

After five years elapsed in father's house, she again got married with Iqbal Hossain of neighbour Shatbaria village.

Her dream of a happy conjugal life again turned into nightmare when her drug addict husband made her life unbearable. She many times wanted to escape but bore all agony thinking future of the children.

This kind of life is not usual. She started realizing it and thinking how to turn her life around.

In the meantime, she came to know about a training workshop on producing vercompost fertilizer organized by Japan based volunteer organization 'Hunger Free World'. She took part in the training in 2005 and gathered knowledge how to produce the fertilizer.

The fertilizer is produced from natural inputs and farmers need to spend very little money to make it.

She first produced vermicompost fertilizer in a 'chari' (a big pot of soil) in 2005. Then she raised the number and now she cultivates it in around 350 'chari'. She earns around Tk 20,000 each month selling the produced fertilizer, and earthworm.

She did not stopped to this but also bought around 1 bigha land where she produces the organic fertilizer, and cultivate rice, wheat, mustard, banana, green chili, gourd and various vegetables in around 9 bigha of land on basis of share cropping.

Visting Fatema's home, this correspondent saw around 300 ‘chari’. She said she first collects cow dung and places it on the pots for some days. Then she adds earthworms and covers the mixture for some days. Then the component can be used as fertilizer in field. 

Fatema said chemical fertilizer is very expensive while farmers need very little money to make Vermicompost fertilizer and it brings higher yield of crops than chemical ones for the farmers.

Besides people are being affected by various difficult and diseases by consuming the crop produced by chemical fertilizer, she added. 

Fatema said at the early stage of producing the fertilizer, she had to collect dung from different villages and buy the same. She gained profit less during that time. Now she has three cows that helps her get more profit.

She sells the fertilizer at Tk 12 to 15 per kilogram and sells earthworm at Tk 1000 to 1200 per kg.

While talking to Fatema's neighbours, they were found verily inspired with her relentless efforts for a better life and success.

Once upon a time when it became so difficult for her to lead life with two children due to extreme poverty, now she is self-reliant and can provide study costs of her offsprings- Kayem Ali, a Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinee this year and daughter Tripy Khatun, a fourth grader.

Local UP member Azizul Islam said Fatema is an example for the underprivileged women that will help other ones like her to change their life and continue industry for success.

Kaliganj Upazila Agriculture officer Jahidul Karim told Jago News that he went to Fatema's home and saw her agriculture and earthworm compost fertilizer producing system.

Her immense endeavor to eradicate poverty and be successful in the job would be exemplary for country's farmers, he said. 

When numerous farmers in the country damage fertility of land using excessive chemical fertilizer, Fatema's cultivation in organic methods has surprised all, Jahidul Karim added.