Bumper yield, good price make Rajbari’s tomato growers happy

Tomato growers of the Padma river basin areas under Rajbari Sadar upazila are happy as they are getting good prices for their produce after a bumper yield due to favourable weather.

According to sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension in Rajbari, different hybreed tomato varieties including TM 120, O28, B2+, Mitali, Red Jewel and bipul plus were commercially cultivated on 132 hectares of land in the Padma basin areas of Khanganj, Mizanpur, Dadoshi and Barat unions in Sadar upazila.

Visiting different villages in the upazila recently, this correspondent found tomato growers busy harvesting ripe tomato from their lands and putting those into plastic crates for taking to market.

Growers said tomato cultivation is becoming popular in the area for its good yield and profitability every season.

They also said their tomatoes are sent to Dhaka, Faridpur, Narayanganj and other districts after meeting the local demand.

"I spent Tk 1.15 lakh to cultivate tomato on 100 decimals of land this year. When I started selling my produce, the price was Tk 110 per kg in the local market. I have already sold tomatoes worth Tk 1 lakh, and hopefully will be able to sell tomatoes worth Tk 5 lakh more this season," said Md Golam Mostafa, 36, of Gopalbari village.

Echoing him, Khalil Sheikh, 28, another grower of the same area, said he cultivated tomato on 150 decimals of land this year.

Last year, he had made a profit of Tk 7 lakh cultivating tomato on the same land, he added.

Roshid Kha, 50, a farmer of Nayanshuk village, said tomato harvest began in mid-December and will continue till end of February. The vegetable was sold at Tk 4,400 per maund in the first week, and is now selling at Tk 1,600 per maund in local wholesale markets. Farmers get 400-450 maunds of tomatoes on average from each bigha of land.

Wholesale buyers are taking several truckloads of tomatoes from the area to different parts of the country daily, making profit of Tk 15,000-20,000 from each truck carrying 150 maunds, said a wholesale buyer Ramjan Sheikh.

Several hundred workers, including women, are engaged in sorting the good fruits from the piles of tomatoes, each of them earning around Tk 400-500 daily, said Abdul Selim Sheikh, another buyer.

Md Jony Khan, upazila agriculture officer in Rajbari Sadar, said, "Tomato cultivation has gained popularity among the growers in the region as they are able to make good profit from their harvest every season, thereby achieving financial solvency."