Pheromone trap gains popularity
Cultivation of toxin-free, eco-friendly vegetables in Chittagong
SHAMSUDDIN ILLIUS, Ctg
Farmers of Chittagong are using pheromone traps instead of harmful insecticides to cultivate toxin-free and environment-friendly vegetables. According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the sex pheromone trap is cost-effective and environment-friendly. Farmers can make it easily. Some popular methods of the pheromone trap are bottle traps, delta traps, water-pan traps and funnel traps.
To cultivate aubergine in a one-bigha plot, only 33 traps are needed. It takes only about Tk. 50 to 55 to make a trap. By using pheromone traps instead of insecticides, a farmer can save at least Tk. 20,000 on every bigha, said Sheikh Abdullah Wahed, the upazilla agriculture officer of Hathazari upazilla.
For every bigha, a farmer needs to spend at most Tk. 3,000 on pheromone traps, while he needs to spend over Tk. 25,000 on insecticides, added Wahed.
The trap is widely used to cultivate vegetables like pumpkin, cucumber, bitter gourd, pointed gourd, spiny gourd, snake gourd, sponge gourd, ash gourd, bottle gourd, watermelon, bean, marrow, pea, aubergine, cauliflower, cabbage, asparagus and ivy gourd. Though the DAE introduced the trap to kill insects in Chittagong in 2008, the method started gaining popularity in the 20152016 fiscal year. In the 20142015 fiscal year, only 5,000 pheromone traps were used in Chittagong. In 20152016, the number rose to 32,000, while it nearly doubled to 62,000 in the 20162017 fiscal year.
The DAE has held many campaigns at the field level in different areas of Chittagong, including Patiya, Sitakunda, Hathazari, Raozan, Rangunia, Satkania, Chandanish and Sandwip upazillas, to encourage the use of the pheromone trap.
We are encouraging vegetable farmers to use fertilisers and organic fertilisers carefully. To kill harmful insects in vegetables, we are encouraging them to use sex pheromone traps instead of poison, said Aminul Haque Chowdhury, the deputy director of DAE Chittagong. The farmers are also choosing the traps, as these are cost-effective, healthy, and environment-friendly, he added.
Every year, vegetable cultivation in Chittagong is gaining popularity. This year, the farmers cultivated vegetables on 35,000 hectares and the production target is 650,000 metric tonnes. In 20142015, it was on 32,000 hectares and production was 550, 000 metric tonnes. In 20152016, it was on 33,000 hectares and production was 569,000 metric tons in Chittagong, said Haque.
The trap needs to be set five metres within the plot from the boundary, and each trap should be placed 10 metres away from each other. They need to be set up in a square.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a lure typically lasts for 80 days. For the crops that remain for more than 80 days in the field, two lures are needed every season. The traps and lures are manufactured in the local market at a cheap price. Moreover, every week, the farmer needs to clean the dead insects and change the soap-mixed water.
Md Wadud, a farmer in Farhadabad of Hathazari who used the trap in his cauliflower field, told The Independent: For my one-bigha vegetable land, I need to spend only Tk. 2,500 on pheromone traps, but insecticide costs me over Tk. 20,000. Moreover, the customer likes insecticide-free vegetables. So, I can sell it at a high price.
Md Hassan, who uses the trap on his aubergine land at Mirzapur in Hathazari, and Md Atik of Patiya echoed Waduds words. The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) has developed the pheromone traps these farmers use.
