Farmers in Sarishabari of Jamalpur district are experiencing financial gains by cultivating vegetables using the trellis (locally known as macha) method.
The technique helps prevent the vegetable vines and fruits from touching the ground, significantly reducing the risk of disease and pest attacks.
This system is time-effective. Yielding takes place in a short time. So, it is replacing the traditional farming method. Hoping higher profits, local growers are bringing more lands under this innovative system, agriculture official sources said.
According to the Upazila Agriculture Office, the farmers cultivate vegetables in different fields of 8 unions of the upazila using the trelli system. This season, the target of vegetable cultivation in the upazila was set 320 hectares of land. Already, 5 hectares more than the target has been achieved.
The trellis method ensures cleaner produce, easier harvesting, and better prices in the market. Vegetables commonly grown using this approach include bottle gourd, snake gourd, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, pumpkin, cucumber, yard-long bean, and flat beans. The climbing nature of these plants is ideal for upward growth on trellises, leading to increased yields, better space efficiency, and reduced crop damage.
Farmer Sanwar of Aona Union of the upazila has cultivated bottle gourds by leasing 18 decimal of the land for 3 thousand taka. Since the seeds are high-yielding, he is harvesting the gourds within a month and selling them at wholesale prices in various markets. Going to the gourd-cultivated land, it is seen that green gourds of various sizes, small and large, are hanging in beautiful rows. Sitting under the gourds, other farmers are cutting the matured gourds and putting them in baskets. These gourds are being sold at wholesale prices from the crop field. He currently has hundreds of gourds, both small and large, even after selling them in the field.
Farmer Abdul Majid said, cultivating vegetables in trellis reduces crop diseases and these crops can be highly profitable as they fetch good prices in the market. This method produces twice as many vegetables as the normal method and reduces vegetable waste. However, once a trellis is built, it can be used for about 5 to 7 years. Only a little repair is required every year. This reduces insect attacks and improves the color of the crop. Sometimes the price of the crop is higher or lower depending on the color of the crop.
Chanowar Hossain, a farmer from the area, said, "With the help and advice of the Upazila Agriculture Office, we have now achieved very good yields in cultivating gourds using the trellis method. A large quantity of gourds has been harvested. There are currently hundreds of small and large gourds in my field. So far, I have sold gourds for more than one lakh taka in wholesale. In addition to gourds, I have cultivated various vegetables including cucumber, bitter gourd, and plantain on two more bighas of land. Seeing my platform method, other farmers in the area have also expressed interest in cultivating gourds and the platform method. I hope that seeing this success, vegetable cultivation in the platform will expand. In this method, the vines of the tree rise above the ground, resulting in increased yield. In addition, the platform method saves space. Therefore, if vegetables are cultivated in a small area, more yield is obtained. Good prices are obtained in the market."
Upazila Agriculture Officer and Agriculturist Anup Singha said, "The method of cultivating vegetables on trellis is an innovative and sustainable agricultural method. Vegetable cultivation on the platform is a special method, where vegetables are cultivated by making a platform using the creeping and upward characteristics of vegetables. As vegetable cultivation on the platform is profitable with little effort, farmers are becoming financially self-sufficient. In addition, vegetable cultivation on the method is becoming popular day by day in the upazila. More cultivation will increase in this method in the coming days."
