Kushtia farmers in Ujangram turn to pesticide-free vegetables grown with IPM

Farmers in Ujangram union of Kushtia Sadar upazila were taking a growing interest in pesticide-free vegetables in November 2024. Using integrated pest management (IPM), with bio-pesticides and sex pheromone traps in place of chemical sprays, protection of beneficial insects and clean cultivation, they told Jagonews24 on 30 November 2024 that they were producing more at a lower cost.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Kushtia, pesticide-free vegetables were then being grown on about 100 acres in several villages of Ujangram union. With the department's technical support and advice, about 15 kinds of vegetables, including tomato, brinjal, bean, bottle gourd, pointed gourd and red amaranth, were being produced without chemical pesticides.

Ujangram is one of the 14 unions of Kushtia Sadar upazila in Khulna Division. The upazila covers 318.22 square kilometres and had a population of 560,963 in the 2022 census.

Asaduzzaman, a farmer of Baruipara village in Ujangram union, said he was growing tomatoes on 46 decimals with IPM and no chemical pesticides. He said costs were lower under the method and, with good demand for pesticide-free vegetables, farmers were profiting.

"I never thought growing tomatoes would bring so much profit. Next season I will grow tomatoes on more land. These tomatoes are free of poison; no pesticide was used on the field. Tomato plants usually need the most spraying because of the fruit and shoot borer. Because I used bio-pesticides and sex pheromone traps instead, I did not have to apply any poison. Before, I had to spend Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,000 a week on pesticide," Asaduzzaman said.

If the weather stayed favourable, he expected a profit of at least Tk 1 lakh after costs from his 46 decimals of tomatoes.

Abdus Sattar, a farmer in the same area, said: "I am growing pointed gourd on 25 decimals. Using the IPM method, my costs are lower than before, so the profit is higher."

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) describes IPM as the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and the integration of measures that discourage pest populations from building up. It combines biological, chemical, physical and cultural practices to grow healthy crops while keeping pesticide use to a minimum, encourages natural pest control and aims to reduce risks to human health and the environment.

A sex pheromone is a chemical released by female insects to attract males for mating. A trap baited with it catches males of one particular species while leaving other insects largely unharmed, so it also tells farmers when a pest has arrived in the field. The traps catch only adult insects, not the caterpillars that do the damage.

One of the most damaging pests of brinjal in Bangladesh is the brinjal fruit and shoot borer (Leucinodes orbonalis). Within an hour of hatching, its caterpillar bores into a tender shoot, flower or fruit, and even slightly damaged fruit becomes unfit for sale. In June 2011 The Daily Star reported, citing Syed Nurul Alam, then chief scientific officer of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), that the area under bio-pesticides had reached 16,000 hectares in 2009-10. The same report said growing brinjal with chemical pesticides cost more than Tk 65,000 per hectare, against Tk 11,000 with bio-pesticides.

Saidur Rahman, sub-assistant agriculture officer for Ujangram union, said: "Various vegetables are being grown using bio-pesticides through environment-friendly techniques. About 15 kinds of vegetables are being produced here entirely with IPM. Alongside motivating farmers to grow these vegetables safely, we are informing them about modern bio-technology through farmer rallies and making the public aware too."

Sufi Md Rafiquzzaman, deputy director of the DAE in Kushtia, said: "The pesticides used to control insects in vegetable fields are extremely harmful to the human body. So farmers are being discouraged from using pesticides and advised to grow safe, healthy vegetables." He said NGOs were also advising farmers, and that although farmers were hard to win over at first, the success of the method was drawing more of them to it.

Photo: Geronimatrix / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Sources: Jagonews24, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), The Daily Star, Wikipedia