Because family land is divided up in Bangladesh, farmland is becoming fragmented into small plots, and the area taken by ridges (aail) between them is growing. Much land cannot be used as a result, but with a little ingenuity the ridges can be brought under cultivation.

To raise their income and meet the demand for vegetables, many farmers have recently begun growing vegetables on field ridges. At present, vegetables are grown on ridges in various parts of Chattogram and Jashore districts.

Vegetables can be grown all year on the ridges of medium-high and high land. Ridges that go under water in floods or heavy rain are not suitable. Growing vegetables on ridges does no harm to the main crop, such as rice.

Notable vegetables grown on ridges include beans, yardlong beans, okra, bottle gourd, Indian spinach, gima kalmi, spiny gourd, tomato, ridge gourd, snake gourd, pumpkin and mustard.

• Plant vegetables on the ridges in step with transplanting the main crop, rice.
• Clean the ridge and dig the soil until it is loose and crumbly.
• Sow broadcast-sown vegetables on top of the ridge; dig pits for those that are planted in pits.
• Raise vegetable seedlings in polybags at the same time as the rice seedbed is prepared, and plant healthy, strong seedlings at set distances with organic and inorganic fertiliser mixed in.

Keep the ridges free of weeds at all times, and loosen the soil with a weeder now and then so it holds moisture longer. Use chemical fertiliser at the approved dose as needed, and give climbing vegetables a trellis. Without irrigation when needed, the expected yield may not come.

Vegetables on ridges can be attacked by various pests, which should be controlled with IPM. If vegetables with colourful flowers are grown on the ridges, parasitic wasps that attack harmful rice insects will shelter in the flowers.

This helps the wasps breed and survive. The wasps parasitise and destroy the eggs, larvae, pupae and adults of harmful insects in the rice crop, so farmers will have little need for chemical pest control.

By growing vegetables on ridges, farmers can meet their own needs and earn extra income by selling surplus vegetables in the market. This will raise farmers' incomes and boost the country's economy too.

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