Back to blessings of Mother Nature

One of the farmers in Gaiodghat village in Bagherpara upazila in Jessore district beside his field where pheromone trap and beneficial insects are used instead of harmful insecticide to produce vegetables. PHOTO: STAR

With the help of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), 125 farmers in Gaidghat village in Bagherpara upazila village now use 'pheromone trap' and 'beneficial insects' instead of heavy doses of pesticide.

They are growing vegetables on 32 acres with the new methods, possibly the first organised effort in the country to produce 'safe and natural' vegetables.

A Dhaka-based NGO, Jubok Agro-Biotech Limited (JAL), helped them in the venture.

The farmers are being doubly benefited by the newly innovated technology. The cost of production is less but the items are sold at prices higher than those produced by using pesticides. The prices are at least 15 per cent higher than other vegetables.

On every Tuesday and Friday, the farmers bring the vegetables to the Agriculture Technology Implementation Center (ATIC) at Gaidghat village. After weighing and packaging, truckloads of the vegetables leave for markets in Dhaka.

"We are really overwhelmed. We are earning more while supplying safe vegetables and saving people from health hazards", farmer Ayub Hossain told this correspondent at Gaidghat village.

BARI in 2001 took up a programme styled Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to discourage farmers to use harmful pesticides. At first, its scientists introduced 'pheromone trap', made with a plastic bottle. The bottle is half filled with water and then pheromonean artificial sex-hormone of female insectsis put inside it. Pheromone's smell attracts insects and kills those. Farmers could control fruit-borer insects by using the pheromone trap. But to check the leaf and shoot-borers, they had to use pesticide to a limited scale.

This year, JAL came forward with some 'beneficial insects' produced in their laboratory to check the harmful 'leaf and shoot-borers'.

A total of 125 farmers used the 'beneficial insects' on their 32 acres of land and produced vegetables without using insecticides and toxic substances. Initially, JAL bought the vegetables from farmers and supplied those to kitchen markets in Dhaka. Now, farmers directly sell the vegetables to traders.

Talking to The Daily Star, Senior Scientific Officer Dr Sayed Nurul Alam of BARI said, "Marketing was one of the main barriers that has been removed by JAL. Farmers are now getting higher prices for their products following the laudable initiative by JAL".

JAL Director Serajul Islam expressed his optimism that they would be able to spread the new technology to other areas of the country within a short time so that farmers can shun use of harmful pesticides.