Researchers have conducted experimental cultivation of tomatoes using chemical pesticide and hormone-free methods for several years, resulting in bumper yields for farmers this time around. Dr. Md. Azizul Haque, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Agriculture Department at Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur,

revealed that farmers are delighted with the high yields obtained at minimal cost.

Under a joint initiative by UNESCO’s World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Dr. Azizul Haque and his team have achieved significant success in tomato cultivation using minimal amounts of urea, phosphate, and bacteria, without any chemical pesticides or hormones. They are also researching the use of bacteria in crops such as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, rice, and pulses.

Recently, Keniyan researcher Professor Lizzy Mwamburry, Director, Research & Innovation University of Eldoret, Kenya have visited the research project.

After visiting, she has given the comment “The research we are doing now is on to buttons, we are doing reliable control of pests. This research is in collaboration with one part of your institution (HSTU). We concentrating more on the Molecular work. The Molecular work is done in Bangladesh when we do the fungicides part in caniya.

So, we hope that this work can grow because we don’t want to use pesticides for the environment.

So we can hope in future to continue this work with more funding and we want more fund to getting students interests in research”.