Success story for farming family in Bangladesh working with CIMMYT
Bangladeshi farmer Gopal Mohanta and his wife outside their old home in the village of Boiragee, Dinajpur. Their family have been able to leave this house behind and build a larger one, thanks to a dramatic improvement in their livelihoods after they began to work with CIMMYT.
This change in fortunes began when Mohanta attended a farmer training session provided by CIMMYT in collaboration with partners in Bangladesh. This opened a door for him to take advantage of a range of resources from CIMMYT and its partners—including seed, technologies, and practices—and to combine these with his own hard work and talent.
One of the changes Mohanta made was to plant a more diverse range of crops, and in 2005 he planted maize for the first time, using improved seed based on CIMMYT materials. He achieves high yields of 12-13 t/ha, which he is able to sell at a good profit, as a growing market is fueling high and stable maize prices in Bangladesh. As well as building a new house, the increased income has brought other benefits such as a better education for the family's two children. Mohanta has also been able to invest in livestock and a pond stocked with fish, further diversifying his farm.
The family has come a long way, providing a shining example of what is possible to others in their community. However, the success story is far from over; looking to the future, Mohanta plans to buy more land and to plant more crops.
Photo credit: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Bangladesh, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?tag=bangladesh.
Success story for farming family in Bangladesh working with CIMMYT
Bangladeshi farmer Gopal Mohanta and his wife outside their old home in the village of Boiragee, Dinajpur. Their family have been able to leave this house behind and build a larger one, thanks to a dramatic improvement in their livelihoods after they began to work with CIMMYT.
This change in fortunes began when Mohanta attended a farmer training session provided by CIMMYT in collaboration with partners in Bangladesh. This opened a door for him to take advantage of a range of resources from CIMMYT and its partners—including seed, technologies, and practices—and to combine these with his own hard work and talent.
One of the changes Mohanta made was to plant a more diverse range of crops, and in 2005 he planted maize for the first time, using improved seed based on CIMMYT materials. He achieves high yields of 12-13 t/ha, which he is able to sell at a good profit, as a growing market is fueling high and stable maize prices in Bangladesh. As well as building a new house, the increased income has brought other benefits such as a better education for the family's two children. Mohanta has also been able to invest in livestock and a pond stocked with fish, further diversifying his farm.
The family has come a long way, providing a shining example of what is possible to others in their community. However, the success story is far from over; looking to the future, Mohanta plans to buy more land and to plant more crops.
Photo credit: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.
For the latest on CIMMYT in Bangladesh, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?tag=bangladesh.