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Organic pest control popular with Mymensingh farmers

Increasing use of pheromone traps a win for public health, environment

Md Aminul Islam with Andrew Eagle
Among Mymensingh vegetable farmers, a methodological revolution is underway. Hundreds of farmers have turned their back on chemical pesticides in favour of pheromone traps for pest control, leading to cost-effective, organic vegetable production.
"This year I grew sweet gourd on forty decimals, with sixteen pheromone traps set to protect my crop," says Abul Monsur, a farmer from Dakkhin Kakonhati village in Ishwarganj upazila. "Each trap costs around Tk 50 to set up, which involves buying a lure and a plastic pot."
Monsur has been using the method for the last three years. This time around he spent a total ofTk 800 on pest control, which is a substantial saving. "I used to have to factor in a cost of up to Tk 3,000 on preventing insect attack," he says, “before I started to use pheromone traps."
Another farmer, Muslem Uddin from Dorpanchashi village has a similar experience. "In my 25 decimal brinjal field I put ten pheromone traps," he says, "and it's much cheaper to protect the vegetables from insect attack with this method."
The traps work by using pheromones to attract pests looking for mating partners. When attached to conventional traps such as bottle traps, the attracted insect is effectively taken out of the ecosystem. Alternately the pheromones themselves disrupt breeding cycles by covering a male insect, for example, with female pheromones which then attracts other males for unsuccessful breeding attempts.
According to Ishwarganj upazila's sub-assistant agriculture officer Mustaq Ahmed Khan, as many as 200 farmers in the area have switched to pheromone traps over the last couple of years, with proven results inspiring more to follow
their lead each season.
"Per ten decimals, four traps are enough to kill the male insects and prevent breeding, which brings relief to farmers, “ says Mustaq.
The Department of Agriculture Extension has been active in training farmers how to install and manage the traps, which is easy enough to do. 'Field days' for farmers, during which the trap technology is explained, are held several times per year.
"Pheromone traps are a good alternative to insecticides, saving both expense and the environ-
ment," says the agriculture officer in Ishwarganj, Rahima Khatun.
"It's a change that started in different upazilas of Mymensingh a decade ago," says the department's district-level deputy director Md Abdul Mazed. "Already we have around 25,000 farmers using pheromone traps. The traps not only facilitate chemical-free vegetable production but are good for soil health too."
From the department's perspective, pheromone traps are one part of broader commitment to environmentally friendlier
farming techniques. Farmers are also being encouraged to use organic vermicompost and livestock manure in place of chemical fertilisers.
"The biotechnology of pheromone traps is a blessing that prevents the use of toxic pesticides, which was often applied indiscriminately," says Toufique Ahmed Khan, assistant deputy director of plant protection at the department's Mymensingh branch. "With the pheromone method, both public health and ecological balance are winners."