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Eggplant, Solanum melongena L., a native plant species of South Asian origin, is an important vegetable in Bangladesh and India. It is grown on over 510,000 ha in India (FAO, 2004) and approximately 60,000 ha in Bangladesh (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2004). This crop is grown by small landholders, under management practices that range from low-input rainfed crops grown once a year to high-input irrigated crops that are grown twice or even thrice a year. Sales of eggplant from throughout the prolonged harvest season provide farmers with valuable cash income.

Besides income, eggplant is an important source of nutrition. It provides essential dietary nutrients such as vitamins B 6, C, K, thiamin, niacin and pantothenic acid, as well as minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese and copper. Eggplant is a good source of dietary fiber and folic acid, and is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. During the hot-wet monsoon season, when other vegetables are in short supply, eggplant at times is the only vegetable available at an affordable price to rural and urban poor. From a social equity point of view, this vegetable is especially important. It is liked by rich and poor, urban and rural, upper and lower classes, and is a social leveler in the class-conscious society of this part of the world.