Not long ago, Nipen Chandra Roy would carry samples of flattened rice from one shop to another, hoping to find buyers. Before working with HarvestPlus Solutions, Nipen operated his flattened-rice, or chira, mill on a small scale.

Through REACTS-IN, HarvestPlus Solutions supported him with access to zinc biofortified rice particularly BRRI dhan74. HPS also provided knowledge on nutrition, product quality, branding and marketing support. By applying that support to his own business, Nipen has transformed a small processing operation into a growing enterprise with a wider market and increasing demand.

Today, wholesalers come to his mill asking for regular supplies. The change did not happen overnight. For Nipen, a rice processor in Pirganj sub-district in Bangladesh’s Thakurgaon District, it began with finding the right rice for his business and learning how a grain that was considered unsuitable for some purposes could become a competitive advantage.

“I had to carry my chira samples from shop to shop,” Nipen recalls. “Now, wholesalers come to me asking for regular supplies.”

A small business with big challenges

With limited working capital and two additional workers, he produced around 250 kilograms of chira each day using locally available, non-zinc rice varieties. But producing a consistent, high-quality product was not always easy. He struggled with color and quality problems, processing losses, and, perhaps most importantly, finding enough customers.

At the time, all the rice grain he processed was non-zinc rice. For a small business like Nipen’s, every challenge mattered. Processing losses reduced earnings, quality concerns affected the final product, and without reliable customers, growth remained difficult.

Then, in 2024, his business became part of a new journey under the REACTS-IN project. HarvestPlus Solutions introduced Nipen to BRRI dhan74, a zinc biofortified rice variety with characteristics that made it particularly suitable for producing flattened rice. The variety’s coarse grains produce chira with greater coarseness, mass and weight. HarvestPlus Solutions also provided Nipen with guidance on zinc nutrition, product quality, branding, and marketing.

Nipen began applying this knowledge in his own mill. Gradually, he increased the amount of zinc rice he processed. What might have seemed like a limitation in one market became an advantage in his business. “BRRI dhan74 has extraordinary quality for producing flattened rice,” Nipen says. “It is highly compatible with my mill, and the processing loss is very low,” he said.

Today, about 90 percent of the rice Nipen processes is zinc rice. Around 85 percent is BRRI dhan74 and another 5 percent is BRRI dhan102. Only 10 percent of his raw material is now Miniket rice. His business has grown well beyond its earlier scale. The mill now processes about 50 mounds—approximately two metric tons—of rice grain each day, producing around 50 sacks, or about 1.25 metric tons, of flattened rice, alongside useful by-products.

Nipen has also found ways to make use of almost everything produced during processing. Coarse flattened-rice powder is used as livestock feed, bran is used in fisheries, and fuel and ash from the processing operation are eventually sold for use in crop fields as fertilizer.

Previously, Nipen’s market was limited to two sub-districts: Pirganj and Ranisankail. Today, his products also reach Kaharol, Haripur, Baliadangi and Thakurgaon Sadar. The business employs four people.

The transformation of Nipen’s business can be seen not only in the scale of his operations, but also in how far he has come since participating in the program. Before the intervention, his working capital was below BDT 1 lakh (approximately USD 1,000), infrastructure investment stood at around BDT 8 lakh (USD 7,000), and his daily net income was approximately BDT 1,000 (USD 10).

As demand for zinc rice seed increased and his business expanded, Nipen’s working capital grew to around BDT 5 lakh (approximately USD 4,500), excluding infrastructure costs. He has also invested nearly BDT 20 lakh (USD 15,000) in the mill’s infrastructure, including a large drying area known locally as a chatal.

When the mill is operating, Nipen now earns a net income of at least BDT 5,000 (USD 50) per day—five times higher than before. That income has helped him meet everyday household needs, including food, clothing, medicine, and his sons’ education. It has also supported major family expenses, including his daughter’s marriage and delivery costs.

For Nipen, the growth of the business is therefore about more than increasing production or reaching new markets. It is also about greater security for his family, greater resilience to financial shocks, and confidence in what the future might hold.