Stories

High demands of Kaiyum’s Pro-Tray Nursery Seedling

Kaiyum, a 43-year-old farmer from Panchbibi sub-district in Joypurhat, traditionally reared livestock animals and earned 10,000 takas each month. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he had to sell his animals to meet his family’s financial needs. Subsequently, he leased 100 decimals of agricultural land to produce vegetables. Unfortunately, he found that there was a lack of quality vegetable seedlings in his area. To address this problem, he decided to produce high-quality seedlings himself and supply them to local farmers to increase their production.

Fortunately, the RMTP project introduced Kaiyum to the “Pro Tray Nursery Seedling” technique, which is part of the “Eco-friendly safe vegetable cultivation and marketing” sub-project. The project provided him with capacity building training, technical support, coco media, 250 reusable plastic trays, quality seeds, mulching papers, green netting, and other resources.

Kaiyum invested 40,000 takas of his own money into the venture. The project also assisted him in marketing his seedlings to farmers through various meetings. Within 25 days, Kaiyum sold 25,000 seedlings in the first round of production. He then purchased an additional 100 plastic trays to expand seedling production for the second round, during which he sold 32,000 seedlings.

He now produces various types of seedlings in his nursery, including green chilli, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, cabbage, cucumber, tomato, bottle gourd, pumpkin, capsicum, papaya, and bean. Currently, there are 97,500 seedlings in his nursery, and he is taking advance orders from farmers for their supply. 

He now earns 30,000 takas each month, and three women work in his farm and are also learning this modern technology. Kaiyum’s wife, Emroja, directly manages the nursery and has increased her efficiency in this regard. Due to the high demand for pro tray seedlings in his area, Kaiyum plans to expand his business and has set a target of producing 100,000 seedlings in each cycle.

One farmer, Md. Hasan Ali Bakul, said, “I have used Kaiyum’s nursery’s seedlings, which are of good quality and have increased my vegetable production.”

News & Events

Nutrition Campaign to Empower and Educate Citizens

On September 7, 2023, the Rural Microenterprise Transformation Project (RMTP) organized a nutrition campaign in collaboration with the partner organization, Proyas Manobik Unnayan Society, in Chapainawabganj.

The campaign was designed to engage the community through a set of diverse activities, including live food demonstrations, a rally, Gombhira songs, drama, open discussions, and a quiz competition. Approximately 600 people, including students and youths, participated in the campaign.

RMTP’s nutrition campaign serves as a commendable initiative, not only empowering and educating citizens but also reinforcing the significance of a well-balanced diet, hygiene practices, and safe food handling methods in enhancing the overall well-being of the community.

Ms Mariel Zemarmeal, Programme Officer at IFAD Bangladesh; Dr Akond Md. Rafiqul Islam, Project Coordinator of RMTP, PKSF; Ms Farhana Urmee, Communications Advisor of IFAD Bangladesh; the Executive Director of PROYAS; officers from the district civil surgeon’s office; officers from the district food safety authority; and PMU officials of RMTP also attended the event.

News & Events

Associate Vice President of IFAD expressed his satisfaction over the activities of RMTP

On August 22, 2023, Dr. Donald Brown, the Associate Vice President of IFAD, visited the activities of RMTP at PKSF’s PO ESDOs field in the Thakurgaon district. During his visit, he visited several activities of the project such as transformation of milk into cheese, the processing of grass into silage, and the production and marketing of safe vegetables. Dr. Brown expressed his admiration for the remarkable progress achieved by the project. Accompanying him on this visit were Mr. Md. Fazlul Kader, Additional Managing Director of PKSF, Dr. Arnoud Hameleers, Country Director of IFAD Bangladesh Office, Dr. Akand Md. Rafiqul Islam, Senior General Manager of PKSF, and Dr. Md. Shahid Uz Zaman, Executive Director of ESDO.

News & Events

Farm mechanization & modernization technology introduced at field level

RMTP is promoting the adoption of farm mechanization and modernization technologies for livestock, poultry, horticulture, and fisheries producers. Through strategic partnerships with leading private sector entities like BRAC, Trade Global Limited, ACI, NARISH, Kazi and Kazi, and Aftab, the project ensures convenient access to technical and technological support at the farmers’ doorsteps. This initiative aims to enhance productivity and efficiency while minimizing costs for farmers, reflecting RMTP’s commitment to leverage private sector expertise for agricultural advancement.

News & Events

RMTP implements GGAP and HACCP protocols to ensure food safety

The Rural Microenterprise Transformation Project (RMTP) has introduced Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) protocols in the agricultural production and agro-processing sectors. The project has conducted three Training of Trainers (ToT) courses for university teachers, LSPs, selected government officials, and lead farmers. With the successful completion of these courses, expert trainers are now providing comprehensive training to project participants. So far, 11,416 farmers have benefited from this initiative, highlighting RMTP’s unwavering commitment to improving food safety standards at the farmer level.