Delep Kumar Chakrabarti is a young smallholder
farmer hailing from Mohimapur Village of Naogaon District in Bangladesh. He
lives in a small double story mud house (to save space) with his wife and 6
year old son. He has one acre (3 bigha) land which he cultivates throughout the
year to feed his small family. His continuous involvement with Caritas
Bangladesh developed him as a skilled farmer. He is also a member of the
District Forum promoted under the European Union co-financed SAF-BIN programme.
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| Delep & Shantana |
Mr. Delep very proudly shares that Shantana Chakrabarti
(his wife) is growing about 1,000 ducks in a small duck farm tightly squeezed
in a corner of their homestead. The duck farming was not so profitable in the
beginning and often the farm use to get wiped off due to seasonal diseases.
They had to incur heavy loss many times in the past which mainly caused due to
inadequate know-how of duck farming.
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| Delep near his duck farm |
His situation changed after he met with Dr. Md.
Abdul Majid, Livestock Officer, Naogaon District during the district forum
meetings. He had an opportunity to have one to one interaction with the
livestock officer, who him a lot of information and exposure to the duck
farming practices. He also introduced and trained them on the requirements of vaccination,
medicines and care and maintenance of the unit. He also shared information on
the high yielding duck varieties like Khaki Campbell and Jinding. His position
as a District Forum member has given him the opportunity to have close
interaction with the officer, who is also extra supportive in providing
constant feedback and consultation over phone and visits. He was quite excited
to share that the livestock officer frequently calls him and enquire about his
duck farming. Mr. Delep shared that this was never possible without him having
a leadership position at the district level. He also shared these learning and
skills with the fellow farmers in the village.
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| Delep in the trial plot |
As a result of the improved knowledge and access to updated information, the
mortality rates of the birds have reduced and egg production has increased. Shantana
shared that their income from duck farming has increased and they have
increased the birds in the farm. Mr. Delep being a skilled farmer of SAF-BIN
project, he is engaged in leading the fellow smallholders in the village for
strengthening the collective initiatives and on-farm adaptive research. He has
taken up trials in his farm on effectiveness of practiced management options to
control of rice stem borer in 2013, Performance assessment of minimize of
seedling and to increase yield in 2014 and increase productivity and
profitability through introduction Pulses and oil seed in T. Aman-Fallow
cropping pattern and stability of them in 2014.
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| Seed bank at Delep's house |
He recently got the opportunity
to participate in the Conference on Smallholder Farmers and farmers learning
exchange programme in India, which gave him the confidence and motivation to
take forward the issues of smallholder farmers in the district. He shared that
various climate resilient options collectively tried and tested by the
collectives, they have become friends with the climate.
