Shyamnagar Agro Technology Park, set up on the upazila parishad premises, attracts farmers of the climate vulnerable coastal district as they are interested to adopt sustainable and green technologies in their farming to avoid future risks. The park exhibits more than hundreds of spices of fruit-bearing, forestry and medicinal plants. Many modern cultivation technologies of vegetables and other crops have been put on display on its walls, attracting farmers who are showing growing interest to adopt organic farming methods. Most of them want to use chemical-free vermin compost, quick compost or farmyard manures to produce safe vegetables and other crops. Maruf Hossain Milon, a local farmer, says he visited many agro parks in the past but fruit, forestry and medicinal plants were not seen in any park.
“Once I had little idea how to use modern technologies in agriculture and how to produce organic agricultural products. Now I’ve learned how to produce compost fertilisers. And I’ll use compost fertilisers to produce safe agricultural outputs in the coming days,” he said. Medicinal plants, including nayan tara, kal keute, kacu mukhi, pathar kuchi, michari pata, mukto jhuri, tulshi, hati sur, betsak, kata nate, amarul sak, helanca, thankuni, mani raj, dhutara, bhenna, bonamula, pasaphul, ananta mul, Akhand, rokto karobi and satomul, have been displayed in the park.
Apart from medicinal plants, organic cultivation systems of nut, kaljira, garlic, brinjil, tomato, papaya, mango, mustard, pea, hyacinth bean string bean, sweet gourd, bottle gourd, wax gourd, cucumber, cucumber (short), ribbed gourd, sponse gourd, bitter gourd, sugarcane, paddy, okra, jute, chili, strawberry, wheat and maize have also been exhibited in the agro park.
The park could be a training field for local farmers who have little technological knowledge, says Imran Hossain, a college student, after visiting the park.
Imran said he has learned about the organic farming methods after visiting the park and is interested to cultivate mushroom following this method.