The Ship and the Wave

Besides, two other considerations also ignited my inquisitiveness. The first is the seed crisis -- both shortage of quantity and quality -- that farmers tend to face from time to time. The seed market is very much imperfect, volatile and impinges heavy tolls on farmers. In Bangladesh, reportedly, there are three sources of seeds: farmers themselves (70 per cent), BADC (10 per cent) and of late, NGOs and private sources (20 per cent). Allegedly, neither BADC nor NGO/private sources could capture the confidence of the farmers in terms of quality seeds and fair prices. That's altogether another area of research.

The SHIP
The SHIP served mostly the resource poor farmers. We can also call them marginal farmers with an endowment of land of,say, 100-150 decimals. They are poor because they fail to realize the gains from tiny plots that have potentials to give rich dividends. Knowledge could be a powerful propeller, provided the knowledge revolves round their day to day business.

As I could understand, the SHIP has two components under its umbrella. There is a training on the seed accumulation process (SAP) that spans from raising to rearing seeds and then realizing potentials from homegrown seed. It purports procurement and preservation processes. It teaches how to select paddy for seeds and how to preserve them with appropriate moisture level till the next sowing period. The other knowledge component that I wish to name is good agricultural practices (GAP) promoted while training on seed is provided. Thus SAP and GAP are the twins of SHIP- like engine and body of a real ship.

The mode of transport of knowledge is participation, discussion and exchange. It has a bottom up approach. The SHIP has both theoretic and empiric component. Farmers are taken to the field to find the faults in seeds, in cultural practices and in soils and dig out the drawbacks.

The WAVE
The WAVE is an NGO located at Darshana. It has been entrusted with scaling up of SHIP activities. WAVE has selected one farmer to teach another ten. On 30 April, I sat with a group of farmers and their spouses at Mehrpur under Chuadanga district.

They are marginal farmers. On average, they own 100-150 decimals of cultivated land. Average family size is 5 and most of them have no formal education. Just three years back, they could meet 6-8 months of rice demand from own production. Now they now how to grow, dry and preserve seed. They also know that even one or two seedlings could yield what 5-6 yielded in the past. The germination rate is not a function of the quantity-that they had so far known- but of the quality of seedlings. For example, in the past they used to apply, on average, 10kg seed on one bigha of land that fetched 16 maunds of paddy for them. Now only 5 kg brings, on average, 20 maunds of paddy. The increase is by 40 per cent. They informed me that out of only good seed (SAP) allows a rise by 15 per cent. About half of the increase comes from GAP. The rest could be attributed to soil quality, natural factors etc.

To their utter surprise, they had to know that use of insecticides to kill pests is not at all necessary. "There are useful and harmful pests. When you spray, you tend to kill both friends and foes. But since friendly pests fly around, they become the first victims. The foes hide around and escape the bullets. So, the cost of spraying, on average, Tk 200-300, has been saved with no effect on yield" was the message from the so-called uneducated farmers to a university professor. The farmers also know that more fertilizers do not mean more yield. Rather balanced fertilizer use could raise the yield. Thus, quantity of fertilizer used decreased over the years with perceptible influence on cost saving and savings of fertility of the soil.

Seed and security
What is their expectation from a government? I raised to them 10 areas of expectation. Credit, health clinics, education and training, availability of seeds, roads, relief, subsidy etc. They surprised me (but not perhaps the society) by not ranking relief and subsidy at the top. They want security of life and for cultivation. Allegedly, they cannot water land at night due to deteriorating law and order situation. They cannot market products due to the same. The villains in the villages are growing terrorism, ransoming- a common event in the areas of Kushtia and Chuadanga. The farmers ranked training on seed as the second important expectation.

SHIP and BRRI
From Mujibnagar, I traveled to Chuadanga to visit farmers at Amirpur village. I met few farmers who have been on board the SHIP for last few seasons. The project there was managed by BRRI.

The farmers have submitted an account of their operation for BR-28 (HYV in boro season) on one bigha (33 decimals) of land during the last boro season. Four years back, production in one bigha of land would have cost Tk.4,955. The cost includes land rental, fertilizer, irrigation, pesticides, labor-both hired and family- transport of output from field to house. The farmers left no cost unaccounted for. In return, they had harvested 17 maunds of paddy. At the going paddy price (say Tk.250/maund), the total income was Tk.4250 plus Tk.400 for straw. That is Tk.4650/bigha. Quite obviously, the net economic cost was higher than the return to yield a negative gain by Tk.305/bigha.

But after the training from SHIP, their economic costs during the last boro season stood at Tk.6,315/bigha and the return rose to Tk.6,600/bigha. The net economic gain was positive at Tk.285/bigha. Assuming a marginal farmer cultivates , on average, one acre of land, the total net gain comes to Tk.855/acre. Remember, this is the gain from only one crop-BR-28. For three seasons, the amount could hover around Tk.2000/acre.

Sweety sweats
This not the end of the story. Rashidul Islam's (28) father died while he was one year old. He has no formal education, inherited only 1.5 bigha of land to be in the ranks of the functionally landless people. He narrates his position with exuberance in front of some large farmers. The training from SHIP gave him the impression that his fortunes could hang around the tiny plots. There is no other way to increase the amount of land excepting the rise in productivity. He worked very hard-day and night along with his wife to maximize the gains out of the training.

Last season, Rashidul sold seedlings worth Tk.26,000. He has, by now, emerged as a model supplier of seed in his neighborhood. Just selling seedlings in one season, he bought a shallow machine and a TV. Rashidul was a day laborer just three years back. Now he hires laborer. Three years back, he could meet rice demand for 8 months from own production and now he is a surplus farmer. Rashidul decided to grow maize, betel leaf and sugar cane next season. The land he released through raising yield under SHIP enabled him to diversify crops.

Rahima Khatun Lili passed S.S.C. She got training from SHIP and now organizing village women to follow her foot prints in the field. Rahima's husband does a job in a brick field leaving the whole agricultural operations upon her shoulder. The male farmers in Amirpur village fail to cross Rahima's yield rate. She wakes up at 3 and before sleeping at 10, she spends most of the time in the field.

"I have a determination to fulfill. My elder daughter was married at young age. Despite strong desire, I could not give her good schooling due to want of money. Now I know how to make money from paddy fields. My second daughter is in college. Inshallah, I shall send her to university. Both son and daughter have tutors. Taking training from SHIP, I gained a lot. I bought furniture worth Tk.12000, bought three necklaces for Tk.12000, spent Tk.60,000 for the house and a latrine. From next season's outlay, hopefully, I shall buy a TV. I am now challenging the males in the village and they fear me."

The ship and the wave
I found the farmers fueled with confidence. That they can survive even with tiny lands was dream just three years back. Now the fluctuations in yield reduced, pest attacks waned and environment protected. Most of them were net buyers of rice but now they sell not only output but also seeds. SHIP has also taught the lesson that both men and women are required to get good yield. Let the ripples of the wave generated by the ship reach shores of every subsistence farmer in Bangladesh. Not relief or subsidy, but security and seeds are what they want.

Abdul Bayes is a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University