Netrokona Correspondent
A haor life and nature fair was held on Thursday afternoon at the house of Nasrin Akhter in Tripon village, located on the banks of the haor at the bottom of Maghan Union in Madan Upazila of the district, with the support of the private research organization BARSIC and organized by an agriculture-friendly farmers’ organization. The life and nature of the haor are displayed at stalls with the participation of women, including seeds of haor agricultural crops, vegetables, dried fruits, rural stoves, uncultivated food of the haor, and a festival of fruits. The fair premises were decorated with handwritten festoons, banners, and rice straw. The chief guests at the life-nature fair were Maghan senior teacher Mofiz Uddin Pathan, social worker Delwar Hossain Dulal, Maghan Union BNP president Rahis Mia, Barsik regional coordinator Md. Ohidur Rahman, accompanying Shankar Mrong, agricultural researcher Sumon Talukder, supervisor of the Agro-Ecological Learning Center, women leader Nasrin Akter Akter, village senior farmers, youth, and teenagers. The fair showcased 31 varieties of vegetable seeds including mustard, sesame, red cabbage, date, sweet gourd, gourd, cucumber, chichinga, shrimp, melon, dher, and garlic, 32 varieties of uncultivated food including gimai, bathhua, thankuni, shaluk, dalkals, kalmi shak, phalai, kyataburi, and bautuni, 13 varieties of stoves, 22 varieties of fruits, and also celebrated with quizzes, pot-bhangga, discussions, pot-bhangga games, and awarding of prizes on haor and agriculture. Farmer Shahed Ali -He said, “Haor farmers cultivate crops amidst many disasters. Farmers don’t keep seeds; they all buy them from the market. But today at this fair, it was seen that many seeds are kept by women. A lot of uncultivated food is produced in the haor. Which meets the nutritional needs of the family. Many things come out through such fairs. Social worker Delwar Hossain Dulal said, “I am impressed by such a beautiful arrangement.” “We can learn a lot from the posters with agricultural folk wisdom and mining sayings written on colorful paper. We can grow vegetables in our own villages and homes and eat safe food. We can save our own seeds. Even though there are many disasters in the haor, we still have to move forward on our own initiative.” At the end of the fair, rural sports were organized and prizes were distributed among the participants. The program was moderated by Barsir’s Madan Upazila Coordinator Md. Alamgir, along with leaders of socio-cultural and professional organizations.