Mr. Rashid is a progressive sugarcane farmer and a resident in a village Tehsil Jaranwala of Faisalabad District. He did not own any land initially. He completed his education up to graduation and then started a job of Accountant. Being a self-respecting person, he could not meet with special requirement of this  job. He left the job and started cultivating sugarcane by leasing 1.5 acres of land. He neither had any inherited land from his family nor much capital.

He took a loan from Al-Falah Bank and expanded step by step: from 1.5 acres to 2 acres, then 10 to 25 acres, from 25 to 50 acres, and gradually to 100 acres. At present, Alhamdulillah, he is cultivating sugarcane on 300 acres.

His genuine passion for farming and his intense love for his profession brought him to a level where zonal trials of new sugarcane varieties in Punjab are conducted on Mr. Rashid’s farm. These trials are carried out by the Sugar Research Station, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute of research wing of Agriculture Department Punjab.

When he started farming, the maximum yield was 600 maunds per acre. Now, the average yield of his entire farm has reached to 1,200 maunds per acre. Moreover, on some selected acres, he is achieving yields of 1,800 to 2,000 maunds per acre.

Mr. Rashid’s farm is considered a reliable source for healthy and yield potential sugarcane seed. Even Jamal Din Wali Sugar Mills, commonly known as JWD Sugar Mills Rahim Yar Khan, conduct trials of their varieties on his farm. Besides Punjab, seed from Mr. Rashid’s farm is also supplied to Sindh. This year, his seed is also being sent to the farm of Mr. Hamza, the ARM representative of Tehsil Piplan, District Mianwali.

Mr. Rashid is also the ARM representative for Tehsil Jaranwala, District Faisalabad. In addition, sugarcane farmers are included in ARM’s list of crop specialist farmers.