Bright prospect of commercial summer tomato farming

Cultivation of summer tomato shows bright prospect in the district, including its vast Barind tract, as many farmers are seen getting lucrative prices from the cash crop farming for the last couple of years.

Summer tomato farming has started bringing diversification in the region's cropping system, besides creating scopes of harvesting tomato during the summer and rainy seasons instead of only in the conventional winter season.

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

Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) has released three hybrid varieties namely hybrid tomato-4, 8 and 11 for summer season. It has also adopted need-based measures to make the varieties popular among the farmers.

The On Farm Research Division (OFRD) of BARI has been working to boost summer tomato production through expanding its cultivation in the region under the "summer tomato adaptive trial production and community-based pilot production programme" project.

Summer tomato adaptive trial productions and community based pilot production programmes are being carried out in the area. Five production programmes in Rajshahi, three in Natore and one in Chapainawabganj districts are being conducted at present with the project intervention.

A total of 30 farmers were imparted need-based training and they were given inputs, including saplings, fertilizer, pesticide and materials free of cost on behalf of the project.

OFRD Principal Scientific Officer Dr Mazharul Anwar told BSS that the farmers have been selling tomatoes at Taka 80 to 100 per kilogram for the last one month.

After harvesting Aush paddy, summer tomatoes are cultivated on around 3,000 hectares of land only in Godagari Upazila. The vegetable crop is inspiring many farmers to cultivate because its yield and market price is lucrative.

Dr Anwar said its farming has gained momentum in different areas of the region and the farmers are being benefited significantly.

Referring to the salient features of the hybrid varieties, he said these are tolerant to high temperature and equal to the winter varieties in size, taste and flavor and its preservation capacity was sufficient in normal temperature.

OFRD held a field day on hybrid tomato farming at its research ground on Saturday, focusing on modern farming of the cash crop. Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Komolaranjan Das and OFRD Chief Scientific Officer Dr Shahiduzzaman, among others, addressed the field day meeting.

"I have cultivated Bari- 8 and 11 varieties of tomato on one bigha of land and harvested and sold around 200 kilograms at Taka 70 to 100 per kilogram during the last one month," said Anwar Hossain, a grower of Laldighi village under Godagari Upazila.

He will also sell his produce for more than one month next.

Hossain clarified that around Taka 1.5 lakh is needed to cultivate the crop on one bigha of land that can give 165 mounds of yield valued at around Taka 4.3 lakh.

Sarwar Hossain, 37, another farmer of Bilsimla village under the same upazila, has sold around 300 kilograms of tomato at around Taka 50 to 60 per kilogram after cultivating on one bigha of land.

Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer Atanu Sarker said acreage of tomato farming has enhanced remarkably in the region and the venture is now generating new entrepreneurs.

Many of the farmers have become successful in this field as summer hybrid tomato is being cultivated in different areas commercially as it is being considered as a profitable crop, said Jahangir Alam Khan, Project Coordinator of Integrated Water Resource Management.

In last year, twenty more farmers have gained success through farming experimentally. So, its acreage has been enhanced this year.

Summer tomato farming will assist lessening the gradually mounting pressure on underground water in the drought-prone Barind area as tomato is one of the less-irrigation consuming crops, Jahangir Khan opined.