The Kaliganj agriculture office in Gazipur has declared Birtul and Gararia villages in Nagari union safe vegetable villages. Farmers in the two villages grow vegetables without any pesticides, using various farming technologies. The kakrol (spiny gourd) grown here is in especially high demand: after meeting the needs of the capital and nearby markets, it is going to various Middle Eastern countries.

Birtul and Gararia lie on the bank of the Balu river in Nagari union. The safe vegetables of these two villages, in an upazila bordering Dhaka, are in demand across the country, and their kakrol is inspiring farmers in neighbouring villages. Following their success, farmers in Bagdi, Parwan and Panjora villages of the same union are also growing poison-free kakrol.

According to the local agriculture office, safe kakrol is grown in Birtul and Gararia using sex pheromone traps, yellow sticky traps, hand pollination, IPA technology, bagging, healthy seed, balanced fertiliser, mulching, vermicompost and bio-pesticides. Because of strong demand, kakrol from the two villages and surrounding areas is also being sent to the Middle East.

Kalipada Chandra Das, a kakrol grower of Birtul village, said: "This year I grew kakrol on one and a quarter bighas. I spent Tk 70,000-80,000 and earned about Tk 2 lakh. Because people from the local agriculture office give various advice from time to time, I feel encouraged to grow kakrol."

Pramesh Chandra Das, another grower in the same village, said: "Because kakrol is in demand, wholesalers buy it from our homes. We don't have the trouble of taking it to market and transport costs fall, so our profit increases."

Several farmers from Bagdi, Parwan and Panjora said that besides safe vegetable villages, at least one safe vegetable market was needed in Kaliganj municipality and every union of the upazila, so farmers could sell at fair prices outside the syndicate.

Md Aktaruzzaman, sub-assistant (plant protection) officer in Kaliganj, said: "We advise kakrol growers in Birtul and Gararia from time to time. In the two villages kakrol is produced by eco-friendly methods without pesticides. Keeping foreign demand in mind, we field-level agriculture officers continue to advise farmers."

Upazila Agriculture Officer and agriculturist Farzana Taslim said: "It is popular as a summer vegetable and is generally grown in the Kharif-1 and Kharif-2 seasons. Kakrol is a promising crop for Kaliganj upazila because it is being exported to various Middle Eastern countries. Birtul and Gararia have also been declared safe vegetable villages."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.