BSS, Rajshahi :
Many growers have become happy and economically solvent by virtue of tomato farming in the region particularly the vast Barind tract.
The farmers are seen boosting acreage of the cash crop every year as they are getting satisfactory yield and market price for the last couple of years.
Fazlur Rahman, Additional Director of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), said the cultivation has been increased by five to six times during the last 15 to 20 years due to introduction of high yielding and hybrid varieties of the vegetable and modern technologies.
Tomato, which is now considered as the second cash crop of the region,
plays an important role in the economy. At least two lakh families in the region derive direct financial benefit from either cultivating tomato or its trading.
Hundreds of educated and uneducated youths are now engaged in tomato
cultivation. Tomato cultivators said that they earn between Taka 20 and 25 thousand by cultivating tomato on each bigha of land in a season.
The wholesale price of a maund of tomato is now around Taka 2,000 to 2,400, but the price will come down to around Tk 100 per maund late in the season.
The wholesale traders from across the country, particularly from Dhaka, Chittagong, Barisal, Sylhet, Shariatpur and Madaripur are rushing to different markets of the region for purchasing the harvested crop through middlemen.
Dr Shakhawat Hossain, Senior Scientific Officer of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), said soil and climatic condition of the region,especially Rajshahi, Natore, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Pabna, Bogra Sirajganj, and Joypurhat are very suitable for tomato cultivation.
It is now widely cultivated on the dry soil of the Barind area, sources said.
Different public and private level commercial banks, especially Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (Rakub) have been extending credit facilities to the farmers to inspire the cultivation while the DAE is providing technological support to them for making the cultivation more profitable.
The Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) officials said they developed 10 high yielding and quality varieties and modern technologies.
They have been implementing special programmes to promote those among the growers through arranging farmers training and demonstration plots in different areas. The rate of production of the developed varieties is comparatively high and profitable than that of the domestic varieties.
The farmers also prefer to cultivate some hybrid varieties of tomato which are high yielding and much more profitable, the officials said.
Tomato cultivation has also created job opportunities for hundreds of
educated youths of the region and it could change the socio- economic
condition of the poor if marketing and cost-effective environment – friendly technologies are ensured.
Apart from this, the prospect for tomato cultivation in the country’s
northwestern region in both winter and summer seasons is bright if farmers get qualitative seeds and international markets and preservation facilities, the officials observed.
Sources said the farmers incurred losses every year due to shortage of storage facilities as thousands of tonnes of tomatoes get perished.
If they are provided adequate training on preserving the vegetables,
dependence on importing tomatoes from the neighbouring country could be reduced to a large extent.
