Pioneered by AVRDC and widely promoted for over 20 years by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), grafted tomatoes grown under plastic shelters during the summer rainy season have provided a very good income for many farmers. During their five-day visit to Bangladesh from 20-24 May 2013, AVRDC Director General Dyno Keatinge and South Asia Regional Director Warwick Easdown met with famers in Jessore district in southwest Bangladesh who are growing summer tomato and producing tomato seedlings.

Demand for grafted seedlings is increasing as more tomato farmers face problems with bacterial wilt. Mrs. Anjani Rani Das is the leader of five women in a self-help group (one of six such groups in Jessore and Barisal districts) that began growing grafted tomatoes using eggplant rootstocks provided by AVRDC. This year the group is planning to produce 5000 grafted seedlings to fulfill local orders, in addition to 5000 non-grafted seedlings.

Grafted seedlings take a lot of effort to produce, but can be sold at 7 Taka each as compared to 1 Taka each for non-grafted seedlings. With training from AVRDC and the provision of simple seedling shelters, the grafted plants are providing a new source of income for the women and their families.

The scion is local tomato variety BARI Hybrid No.4, and the rootstock is open pollinated eggplant variety EG203 from AVRDC. By growing only half a dozen eggplants, and bagging the flowers to prevent cross-pollination, Mrs. Das and her team can ensure enough pure seed for next year’s rootstocks.

The women demonstrated their achievements to AVRDC staff and were interested to learn what other women’s groups were doing. Dyno complemented them on their success and the obvious health of their families and shared the success of other women’s groups in producing seedlings of crops such as peppers.

Future AVRDC work in the district will involve trials to find tomato scions with better virus resistance, and testing of new lines for production under cover and in the open field.