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Eggplant Grafting Transforms Life In Gaidghat
Photo: IPM CRSP\Miriam Rich
Women graft a high-yielding
variety of
eggplant onto the
rootstock of another
variety that is resistant
to bacteria wilt.
In Gaidghat, a small village in western
Bangladesh, under the shade of a bamboo-framed
thatch roof, Shovarani Kar and Trishna
Rani Biswas sit and work with razor blades
and eggplant seedlings. With quick and careful
movement of hand on plant, the two women are
able to graft a high-yielding variety of eggplant
onto the rootstock of another variety that is
resistant to a devastating soil-borne scourge:
bacterial wilt.
The USAID-funded eggplant grafting program is
part of an effort to reduce poverty in developing
countries. Through training sessions, women
throughout the district are learning how to
perform this grafting. This simple technology
reduces the need for pesticide applications and
increases yields. Word has traveled that people
in this village are now earning more because of
improved agricultural practices, and villagers from
surrounding towns and even distant villages travel
regularly to Gaidghat to learn how to achieve the
same results.
The women, who can each complete about
300 grafts a day, use the money they earn to
purchase milk to improve their children’s diet and
to buy them clothing and school-related necessities such as
books, notebooks, and pens. In the village of Gaidghat, all the
children attend school, and health problems are down. Because
the people are earning more, their social status has risen, and
they are addressed with more respect. On a global scale, these
changes are small, but they make a big difference in the lives
and livelihoods of people like Shovarani Kar and Trhishna Rani
Biswas.
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