Benapole: Farmers of Chowgaccha upazila in Jessore district are growing chemical-free vegetables using ‘sex pheromone trap’, an environment-friendly technique which controls pest attack, reports UNB.
The technique of preventing pest attack is gaining popularity among the farmers of the upazila as it helps them to get better output without using the harmful chemicals on vegetables.
Upazila Agriculture Office sources said farmers are cultivating chemical-free vegetables on 100 hectares of land in 11 unions and a municipality using the technique in the current Robi season.
The sex pheromone traps are made of plastic bottles. A capsule containing female sex hormone of insects is hung in the plastic bottle with one inch of soap-water and two holes are created in the middle of the container for entrance of insects. Set in the crop field with two bamboo sticks, the bottle attracts male insects which drown in the soap water.
Upazila Agriculture Officer M Shahabuddin Ahmed said the vegetables which are produced by using the insect killing trap are good for health and the production cost is also very low. Abdul Alim, a resident of Chandpara village in Narayanpur union, planted seeds of eggplants in one bigha of land, Wahed Ali in 10 kathas and Asadul Islam in 3 bighas in last December and used using ‘sex pheromone traps’ for pest control. They have already collected 15/20 maunds of eggplants from per bigha of land which are free from poisonous chemicals and healthy. The farmers are expecting that they will be able to sell eggplants worth TK one lakh this season if there is no natural calamity. At Hajorkhana village Shahinur Rahman plated pointed gourd in his one bigha of land, Ishaq in one bigha and Mostafa in three bighas of land and used ‘sex pheromone traps’ for preventing pest attack.