In South Halishahar, within Chattogram City Corporation, a man named Muhammad Mohsin has built a vegetable farm on 250 bighas. Five to six tonnes of tomatoes go to market from his farm every day, and he is getting better prices than expected.

As urbanisation pushes villages towards the city, Mohsin's farm on wide land in South Halishahar has created a village of crops. It began 30 years ago when he leased land for a trial crop of watermelon. Now cultivation never stops, and this season tomatoes have been a real commercial success.

All told, farming still covers 20 hectares in South Halishahar, most of it under tomatoes.

The farm depends entirely on 40 to 50 workers from the northern region. They are quite satisfied with four meals a day and high wages, and many have been on the farm for 20 years. The farmer says labour wages are now the biggest investment in farming.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Hridoye Mati O Manush. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.