Photo: BSS

By Md Mamun Islam

RANGPUR, June 27, 2025 (BSS) - An enthusiastic farmer, Md Abdus Samad, has changed his fortune by cultivating fish in his ponds and vegetables on the same pond banks in Nijpara village of Balapara union under Kaunia upazila of the district.
 
Alongside profits from fish farming, he is earning extra income by growing a variety of vegetables on the banks of his fish farm on about two acres of land in three reservoirs.
 
Apart from changing his own destiny, his unique success has inspired common villagers, new entrepreneurs and unemployed youth in the area to become interested in starting such integrated farms.

Talking to BSS about his fish farm, Abdus Samad said that he has been cultivating beans, papaya, ladies' fingers, 'Barboti', cucumbers and brinjals on the banks of his fish farm for the past 11 years.
 
"Inspired by officials from the Upazila Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), I brought the banks and isles of my fish farms under vegetable cultivation as per their advice about 11 years ago," he said. 

Before he started fish farming, the banks of the three ponds on his fish farm remained fallow year-round and were grazed by cows and goats. 
 
Local people are now enjoying the natural beauty of the integrated fish and vegetable farm while passing through the rural road, surrounded by greenery in the village.
 
"I made very little profit the first year by cultivating only 'Barboti' on the banks of my fish farm. But, from the next year, things started changing and I never looked back," Samad said. 
 
He started cultivating bean, 'Borboti', okra, bottle gourd, spinach, eggplant, cucumber and papaya on the banks and isles after raising bamboo-made over-head and on-land fences spending Taka 40,000 in the second year.
 
"The costs included Taka 12,000 for earthworks on the isles of three fisheries farms, Taka 6,000 for vegetable seeds, Taka 16,000 for constructing bamboo-made fences, Taka 5,000 for setting up nets and Taka 1,000 for spraying pesticides," he said.
 
"Later, first the beans and okra bloomed, and then the other vegetables, which turned the banks around my integrated fish-vegetable farm into an attractive garden," said Abdus Samad.
 
After good profits in the second season, Samad started getting good prices for gourds, beans, okra and papaya every season. 
 
"I hope to make a net profit of Taka 3.5 lakh by the end of this year, after deducting all expenses, by selling the vegetables produced on the shores and isles of my integrated fish farm for more than Taka five lakh," he said.
  
"I am grateful to Badal Chandra Barman, the recently transferred Sub-assistant Agricultural Officer (SAAO) of the DAE for Nijpara Block, who has continuously inspired me to cultivate fish in ponds as well as vegetables on the banks of the fish farm," he said. 
 
After overcoming poverty, Samad is earning a good income from integrated farming, fish farming, and vegetables to make his family of six self-sufficient.
 
"The cost of growing vegetables has remained almost the same, because every year I don't need to build fences on the shores and islands," said Samad.
 
"However, a little pesticide spraying is required when the vegetable plants are in flowering stages," he added.

"Seeing Abdus Samad's success in integrated fish and vegetable farming, many others have followed his footsteps and started setting up similar integrated fish and vegetable farms in neighboring areas," said Md Mohar Ali, the incumbent SAAO of Nijpara block. 

Kawnia Upazila Agriculture Officer, agriculturist Tania Akter, said that officials from the DAE are providing assistance and technical support to Abdus Samad and other farmers to expand their ventures through integrated farming in the upazila.