Commercial tomato farming brings smiles to Rajshahi farmers

Farmers have found the path of becoming financially solvent through tomato farming as it has already delighted many of them in the region, including its vast Barind tract, for the last couple

of years.

In addition to the professional farmers, scores of armatures, particularly the educated and semi-educated unemployed ones, are seen humming towards the cash crop farming for mitigating their unemployment curse, reports BSS.

Rabbil Hossain, 43, has established a tomato garden on 40 bigha of land through hanger method at Bamnahal area under Godagari Upazila. He has already sold his products worth around Taka three lakh during the current season.

Hossain is also highly hopeful about selling his crop worth at around Taka 40 lakh more because the plants are growing well.

Market price of the early harvested tomato is always lucrative but on the contrary the late ones frustrated the growers badly. "Now, we are catching the high price," said Rabbil Hossain.

Tomato is being sold at Taka 60 to 65 per kilogram in wholesale markets, while Taka 120 to 140 in retail market at present.

Platform-cultivated tomato has a demand here as it becomes matured on plants and there is no need of using any chemical for ripening, he said.

In the current season, the cash crop has brought smiles on the face of the farmers as they are getting expected yield and market price since the very beginning of the harvesting period.

Muhammad Ali, a farmer of Kundolia village, said the tomatoes produced without chemicals are being sent to different districts including the capital Dhaka after meeting the local demands.

Many of the farmers are delighted over cultivating and harvesting chemical-free tomatoes.

Moniruzzaman, a farmer of Choitannapur village said he has cultivated two hybrid varieties of tomato on four bighas of land, spending Taka one lakh.

He said: "Many farmers have already changed their fortunes through tomato cultivation in the region...they can earn between Taka 80,000 to Taka 90,000 by cultivating tomatoes on each bigha of land in a season."

Ambia Ferdusi Khanam, a housewife living in Boaliapara of Rajshahi city, said although the early varieties of tomato are available in the local market, its price is very high. One kilogram of tomato is being sold at Taka 120 to 140 in retail markets at present.

Expansion of tomato farming in the Barind area is positive to lessening the gradually mounting pressure on groundwater as it's a less-water consuming crop, said Jahangir Alam Khan, Coordinator of Integrated Water Resource Management Project.

Tomato farming is gaining popularity in the region, particularly in the vast tract of Barind area, since its cultivation is seen as profitable here, he said.

Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer Atanu Sarker told BSS that commercial farming of the vegetable crop is gradually rising in the area amid new more investments by the entrepreneurs.

The tomato farming appeared as a fortune changer for many farmers as it made many peasants solvent in the region this year with also significantly infusing dynamism into the local economy.

Many of the farmers have become self-reliant through tomato cultivation in the region. "Farmers have cultivated tomatoes on 3,050 hectares of land only in Godagari Upazila this year," said Sharmin Sultana, Upazila Agriculture Officer.

Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) developed 10 high- yielding and quality varieties of tomatoes and it has been promoting those among the growers.

Principal scientific officer of Fruit Research Station Dr Alim Uddin said the rates of production of the newly developed varieties are comparatively high and profitable than that of the domestic varieties.