Vegetable farming replacing tobacco in chars

Farmers who used to grow tobacco only a few years ago in char areas of the Dhaleshwari river in Nagarpur upazila, have started growing vegetables there.

The conversion has been made possible through years of motivation by the officials of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Nagarpur.

Many farmers this correspondent spoke with, in Betuajani village under Mokna union of the upazila, said they used to grow tobacco in the area. But now, after being convinced by the DAE, they found success in cultivating other crops, especially vegetables.

Most winter and summer vegetables such as tomato, bean, cauliflower, cabbage, bottle gourd and brinjal grow well in the chars of the Dhaleshwari, they also said.  

Farmer Karim Sheikh said, "We grew tobacco before, but now, thanks to support and advice from the local agriculture office, we've been successful in growing different vegetables here."

Another farmer, Abdus Sabur, said the DAE office trained them on how to use organic fertilisers in the vegetable fields and protect the vegetables from pest attacks through the use of sex pheromone traps.

Agents of different seed suppliers also provide helpful advice to the farmers, he also said.

According to the DAE in Nagarpur, tomato was being cultivated on 85 hectares of land in the upazila this year.

A number of farmers, however, said they are often incurring losses due to falling prices by the time they harvest the tomato. 

They said they could rip the maximum benefit from tomato cultivation if they could store the excess produce in a cold storage in the area.

Abdul Matin Biswas, the DAE officer in Nagarpur upazila, said only several years ago, many local farmers cultivated tobacco in the chars.

They were converted into growing vegetables with the assurance that growing vegetables is easier and profitable, as opposed to the cultivation of tobacco that is harmful to humans as well as to the environment. 

The farmers were trained on how to ripen the tomato without any chemical, by following natural methods. Now the local farmers are producing winter and summer vegetables including tomato in huge quantities in the char areas. 

"Moreover, to ensure fair prices for their produce, we connect them with vegetable vendors, from Tangail and Dhaka, who procure safe organic vegetables from the char farmers," he added.