Abul Kalam Azad from Shyamnagar Satkhira
A farmer’s-led on-farm participatory research involving seven native cultivars of stem amaranth has been in progress since November 2023. The trial is taking place in the courtyard of a farm in the south-western coastal area of Dhumghat village, located in Sahymnagar upazila under Satkhira district. The primary objective is to select suitable amaranth cultivars for the winter season.
The experimental plots vary in size based on available space, with no replications, and adhere to agroecological farming practices without the use of agrochemicals. The seven cultivars are Sobuj amaranth, Sada amaranth, Katanote, Altabar amaranth, Joba lal amaranth, Morog amaranth and Satravanga amaranth. A bi-weekly data gathering template has been developed to record farmers’ observations. The detailed process has been thoroughly discussed within the farmers group and individual and collective responsibilities have been assigned.
Decisions regarding farmers’ exposure visits, results-sharing meetings and field days will be determined through group consensus at an appropriate stage in the trial. While regular observations will be conducted by the enthusiastic farmers themselves, they have been actively involved in every step of the trial process, ranging from problem identification to execution, and eventually evaluation of the experiments. This ensures that farmers play a leading role in the research process, rather than being mere recipients of findings generated elsewhere.
Promising innovations will be identified based on the collective evaluation of agroecological practices. Documentation and other facilitation support will be provided by a community Field Facilitator active in the area.
Translated by
ABM Touhidul Alam
