Tomato cultivation has changed the fate of many farmers in Bagerhat. Biswajit Baral, a farmer of Ashok Nagar village of Chitalmari upazila set an example in this area by cultivating tomatoes. He cultivated early varieties of the winter tomatoes and now he earns a lot from it. Seeing his success, many of the villagers started cultivating the vegetable. The tomatoes grown here go to different parts of the country including Dhaka, Chattogram, Chapainawabganj, Noakhali, Hatia and Barisal, reports our local correspondent. Visiting the field of Ashok Nagar village, it was seen that thousands of tomato plants were lined up on both sides of the fields. The plants are full of small to large green and red tomatoes. Men and women of different ages are picking tomatoes from the plants. This is the same scenario as far as the eye can see in the field. Besides, tomato cultivation has been seen in different villages of Chitalmari including Santoshpur, Umajuri, Charbaniari, Paschimpara, Garibpur, Kharamkhali. Different varieties of tomatoes named Haitom, Chakra, Major, Beautiful and Beautiful-2 are being cultivated in this area. READ: Tomato cultivation: Bumper harvest and good price bring joy to farmers in Rajshahi According to the Department of Agriculture, the seeds of these high yielding hybrids are from India, China and Thailand. Biswajit Baral, a 38-year-old millionaire who cultivates tomatoes, turned to agriculture after passing HSC from Vocational. He has revolutionized tomato cultivation. Besides, he is involved in growing seasonal agricultural products and  pisciculture 

Tomato growers of Godagari upazila in Rajshahi district have been blessed with a good harvest this year thanks to the favourable weather. The juicy vegetable has brought smiles for tomato growers as it is so far proving to be profitable as market price is satisfactory. Godagari upazila is famous for tomato cultivation and every season, tomatoes worth Tk several lakh are grown and traded in the upazila. Tomato cultivation has been going on in the upazila for the last two decades and farmers witness a bumper production of tomato every year. Many people of the upazila became self-reliant by cultivating tomatoes. This year, the local agriculture officer set a target of bringing 3,600 hectares of land under tomato cultivation in 2021-2022 Robi seasons with an expectation of producing 66,000 tonnes of tomatoes in the district, said M Abdul Auwal, deputy director of Rajshahi Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE). Already, 3,517 hectares of land have been brought under tomato cultivation in the district and of these, 2,960 hectares of land were brought under tomato cultivation in Godagari upazila, he said. Also read: Vegetable farming transforming lives of Brahmanbaria youths