Thorny wild brinjal once grew untended along village roads, in odd corners and on embankments. Because of its many thorns it is called the thorn plant, and it could be called a kind of weed. Now, however, farmers have started using it to grow tomatoes by grafting.

Farmer Zahurul Islam Badal lives in Shiyala village in Raninagar upazila, Naogaon. He has succeeded in growing summer tomatoes by grafting, and they are selling at Tk 110 a kg wholesale. The modern method has caused a stir locally, many people are keen to see it, and the upazila agriculture office is encouraging farmers to take it up.

Zahurul is keen on new methods to bring variety to farming and make a profit. Though he owns three bigha of land, he leases and sharecrops more, growing vegetables alongside paddy on about 10-12 bigha a year. This year, after watching the internet, he grafted tomato plants onto wild brinjal as an early summer vegetable.

With this method the base of the tomato plant does not rot easily. The plant tolerates drought and rain better and resists disease, so it lives longer and bears fruit for a long time. Because it is grown under mulching, no fertiliser has to be applied, and the field needs irrigating once a week. At present 50-60kg of tomatoes are picked from the field every day.

"I studied up to class five," Zahurul told Jago News. "For a long time we farmed the usual way everyone farms. You could grow crops like that, but you did not get a good price. That thinking made me keen on new methods to bring variety to farming."

He said 12 katha of land was ploughed, prepared with fertiliser and pesticide, and beds made under mulching. In mid-Shraban (August) wild brinjal seedlings were planted, and 15 days later seeds of the BARI-4 tomato variety were sown. Fifteen days after the tomato plants had grown, they were grafted onto the wild brinjal. Once the graft took, the upper part of the wild brinjal was cut off, leaving the base.

Zahurul said the plants began fruiting at two months. The tomatoes are selling at Tk 110 a kg wholesale. He has already sold more than Tk 1 lakh worth and hopes to sell about another Tk 1 lakh worth. He believes the method can give a harvest for about eight months. Many people are coming to see the tomatoes and seek his advice.

He has also drawn attention by planting ginger in sacks on fallow land. There are ginger plants in 1,600 sacks on six katha. The land is uneven, so no crop used to grow there and it lay uncultivated. Sand, soil and organic fertiliser were mixed and left for about 15-20 days, then plastic sacks were half-filled with the mixture and three pieces of ginger planted in each. Everything included, each sack cost Tk 22.

Ginger takes six to seven months and suffers little disease. It will be harvested in a month. Each sack is expected to yield up to 2kg. Local ginger fetches a good price, Tk 90-100 a kg, and he hopes to sell about Tk 1.5-2 lakh worth.

Local farmer Emdadul Haque said: "We grow tomatoes the ordinary way. This year we have seen Zahurul bhai grow summer tomatoes by grafting onto the thorn plant. By growing them this way and getting them to market early, he is getting a good price and making a profit. The plants are full of tomatoes and have little disease. If the agriculture office gives advice and help, we too will be encouraged to grow tomatoes and other crops in future. He has even caused a stir by planting ginger in sacks."

Raninagar upazila agriculture officer Md Shahidul Islam said: "Early vegetables have been grown on 300 hectares in the upazila. The agriculture office has already trained and encouraged 40 farmers to grow vegetables with modern methods. Many will grow early vegetables from next year. If farmers' interest in these different, modern methods can be raised, off-season farming will increase and farmers will profit."

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Naogaon, summer vegetables have been planted on 6,715 hectares in the district, which will produce 1,23,615 tonnes.

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