It was really an eye-catching event when hundreds of farmers and local people of Shakharidah and surrounding areas of Harinakundu upazila in Jhenaidah left their houses and came to the rice plots with perching materials. The aim of the activities was to ensure safety environment for the flying birds so that they can sit on the perching stands and eat up harmful pesticides for the rice plots.
Health education of economic development-HEED, a non-governmental organization organized the huge gathering where the officials of the department of agriculture extension (DAE) in Harinakundu had extended their all-out cooperation to make the programme a success.
HEED distributed a several hundred pieces of perching materials among the farmers free of cost so that they could set the same and be benefited from the same on their croplands. [HEED also organized a short discussion at its office at Shakharidah Bazer with organization president Jillur Rahman in the chair. Upazila agriculture officer (UAO) Hafiz Hasan attended the event as chief guest and distributed the perching instruments. Sub assistant agriculture officer (SAAO) Ramendu Kumar Biswas attended as special guest.
HEED president Jillur Rahman when contacted said they had only initiated the programme and the farmers throughout the area will, do the same in near future at their own cost and initiatives to save their crops from the sap of the pests and insects.
In his speech as chief guest, UAO Hafiz Hasan said the nature went under threat when we has started chemical farming leaving out traditional system of pest control where the birds were eating up all harmful pests. The farmers could not spend any money for this, meanwhile the stools of the birds were increasing the soil fertility naturally, UAO said.
Famers Mashiur Rahman, Ashrafuzzaman, Dalil Uddin, Hitler, Mohammad Jami and Parash Ali among other spoke. A number of farmers receiving upon the perching instruments said they were turning back to their past and going to save the crops naturally from the slap of the pests free of cost through natural birds.