Shariatpur: Women in Shariatpur's Jajira upazila are becoming self-reliant by cultivating ginger in sacks on unused, shaded spaces around their homes. According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Khan Kandi village under Bikenagar Union of Jajira upazila in Shariatpur is witnessing rows of green ginger plants growing in sacks in shaded corners of homesteads that had remained unused for years. Local woman entrepreneur Airin Akter took the initiative experimentally in an unused shaded area. With technical and agricultural support from the private development organization Shariatpur Development Society (SDS) and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), she initially cultivated ginger in 200 sacks. As she used organic fertilizer prepared by herself and seeds and pesticides provided by the organizations, her production cost was almost zero. Airin Akter said, 'The demand for ginger for our family will certainly be met, and I hope to sell ginger worth around Taka 40,000 after deducting all expenses.' Another woman fr om the same village, Jharna Akter, has cultivated ginger in 250 sacks. By providing only a little care alongside her household chores, she is expecting three times the profit and plans to expand cultivation on a larger scale next season. Inspired by the success of Airin and Jharna, at least 10 women entrepreneurs in the Bikenagar area of Jajira have now joined this modern method of ginger cultivation. Although the sacks are small, each can produce around 1 to 1.5 kilograms of ginger, creating a new source of income for rural families. Jajira Upazila Agriculture Extension Officer Muslima Jahan Linia said women are not only meeting their household demand for ginger by using neglected spaces around their homes but are also strengthening their families financially by selling the produce. She said the initiative is playing an exemplary role in empowering and making rural women self-reliant. The success of sack-based ginger cultivation is not limited to Jajira; it has also spread to Madhupur in Tangail and Jamalp ur district. The hilly and red-soil areas of Madhupur are generally dominated by pineapple and banana cultivation. However, sack-based ginger farming on high land and in shaded areas around homesteads has opened up a new horizon for farmers there. Farmers are cultivating ginger in sacks in Madhupur's chemical-free and naturally fertile soil, achieving double yields at low cost. In the flood-prone char areas of Jamalpur, where low-lying lands remain submerged during the monsoon, sack-based ginger cultivation has proved a blessing for farmers. As the sacks can be placed on raised homesteads or courtyards and easily moved, the crops remain safe even when flood conditions change. Many women in Jamalpur are now choosing this simple method of ginger cultivation as a major means of additional income alongside rearing ducks and chickens. According to Deputy Director of the Jamalpur Agricultural Extension Office Mohammad Alam Sharif Khan, sack-based ginger cultivation has several unique advantages over conventional methods, making it increasingly popular. He said the method can easily be adopted in unused spaces, including homesteads, rooftops and shaded areas. It also protects crops from pests, diseases and natural disasters, requires low investment and is easy to maintain. It also produces higher yields. Agriculture experts say the country faces a significant annual shortage of ginger, which has to be met by importing the commodity from China or India. Shariatpur Development Society Agriculture Officer Md Mostafa Kamal said such initiatives would not only make women self-reliant but also reduce the country's dependence on imported ginger at the national level. This would save a substantial amount of foreign currency, he said. At a time when rural women were once considered confined mainly to household chores, sack-based ginger cultivation is now turning them into successful entrepreneurs. If proper training, quality seeds and financial loan facilities are further expanded at both government and private levels, the t echnology could be spread to every upazila of the country like Jajira, Madhupur and Jamalpur. A small green space in a homestead is now doing more than adding beauty-it is weaving a story of a self-reliant Bangladesh of the future.
