I was in the publication sector before I started my entrepreneurial journey. While I had a stable job from my university life, my dream was elsewhere. I wanted to devote my all to having a business of my own. From that thought, Prajonon Agro Farm House was born. While I did not receive much support from my family or in-laws, I did not lose hope. I pushed through all the tough times with the mental support from my wife, and now I can say my decision was right.
After 5 years of my job life, I left the publication house in August 2017 and decided to start my farm in September. The initial investment came primarily from my savings, and my wife contributed a portion as well. I started my farm with 300+ baby turkeys. What inspired me to begin my journey with turkey is YouTube. While watching many agricultural videos on YouTube, I understood that turkey has demand in both domestic and overseas markets. So, there’s room to export the turkeys once they grow. I also planted papaya and lemon trees in the free area in front of the farm. That’s how my story began to unfold.
After one and a half years of nurturing turkeys and koel, I made a good amount of profit by the grace of the Almighty. With that profit, I decided to expand my farm. So, I added local chicken to the stream. In 2019, I bought more than a thousand parent chickens. The market for chicken was more competitive, and that’s why it took me some time to learn the techniques and skills. However, my luck was not everlasting.
My inexperience in this field forced me to learn everything the hard way. I spent more money on hospital bills and checkups in the beginning years because of livestock diseases. Turkeys have better physical strength and do not get sick easily. But chickens are the opposite. I faced two major drawbacks in 2020 and 2021. Both times the chickens got affected with Ranikhet and similar diseases. I lost 1100-1200 chickens and was left with just 60 parent chickens. My production of eggs also went downhill because of this reason. It was a time of hardship, but I was firm in my decision to struggle for my dream.
On the flip side, my planted papaya trees were growing well enough. Although I had to learn many new things as I was new to gardening, I did not face any significant problems. I earned around BDT 50,000 from my last sale. My garden is still growing, and hopefully, I’ll earn more than BDT 1,00,000 very soon from the fruit sales.
The pandemic did not hurt me too much because, at that time, I was already facing issues with chicken diseases. So, I did not encounter any severe effects because of the Covid-19 outbreak. As for the fruit and vegetable production, I had to sell them in my local market as I could not go to the town area. Still, it was manageable.
While my experience with LightCastle Partners was brief, I attended their training seminar in the Rangpur district a while ago. Their initiative to support the rural entrepreneurs seemed inspiring and motivating. Now, I plan on adding sheep and cows to my farm. I will soon buy some land near my farm to expand my gardens as well. It will also act as grazing land for the animals. After gaining some experience in farming, I feel confident in my skills and abilities. Now, my dream is to sustain this journey and add more value to society through my honest services.