Bangladesh

bg-map-2 Population: 169 M
GDP per capita: $3,400
Feed the Future country? Yes
Involvement in this country since: 1993

 

Challenges:

·     Severe population density
·     Pesticide overuse
·     Value chain issues
·     Bacterial wilt in the soil

Related project:

Vegetable Crops and Mango IPM in Asia:

Implementing ecologically-based, participatory integrated pest management of insect pests, pathogens and weeds, focusing on tomato, eggplant, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, cucurbits, onion, and mango.

Previous Accomplishments:

  1. Allowance of importation of pheromones: The project was instrumental in getting the Bangladesh government to allow the importation of pheromones.
  2. Large-scale training of extension workers: IPM work in Bangladesh has trained extension workers and employees of partnering NGOs in the practice of grafting, which has allowed eggplant farmers to grow this staple crop in spite of the scourge of bacterial wilt that had all but wiped out the crop.
  3. Improved yield with new methods: Use of sanitation and biocontrol agents as opposed to traditional pesticides in the treatment of pod borers and aphids—major pests of bean in Bangladesh. Yield was much higher with this method.
  4. Beneficial fungus production improves women’s lives: A gender analysis of production of Trichoderma has shown that women producers of this beneficial fungus experienced an increase in income and improved family relations.