One of the largest and most successful annual tree fairs in South Asia, the NTF attracts thousands of tree lovers every year and sells millions of plants. Considering huge crowds gathered in the past few years, the duration of the fair was extended to three months this time.

The slogan for this year's fair is "Stop felling trees. Plant and nurture trees". A total of 101 nurseries, mostly from Savar, Sanarpara, Narayanganj and Manikganj, are participating in the fair.

"We came all the way from Brahmanbaria to visit my cousin's family. We just wanted to check out the tree fair. When we entered, it felt amazing," said Sabiha Akter, one of the visitors visiting the fair on Saturday.

Sabiha and her three companions -- all family members -- were having a hard time fitting themselves and the plants they had purchased in an auto rickshaw. The plants they bought from the fair are two guava, one chico, a few ornamental plants and a mango sapling.

"Although we have to go through the hassle of carrying these [plants] all the way to our home district, we couldn't help but resist buying the plants after seeing so many assortment of attractive plants at the fair," she added.

Even though Dhaka city lacks sufficient open spaces for gardening, the tree fair is also drawing a good number of urban crowds as they are gradually adopting rooftop gardening.

Abu Bakkar Siddiky, a Dhanmondi resident, said, "The sight of colourful fruits in varieties dangling from small plants is a wonderful sight. I am interested in rooftop gardening and this is the right place to find suitable fruit plants that grow in pots.

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"When the tree fair first started, we had to request nursery owners to participate [in this fair]. In the beginning, they were reluctant because they did not think people would visit such a fair," said M Tarek Rahman, president of National Nursery Consortium.

"Today, the scenario has totally changed. Now we have severe competition among the participants to get a stall in the fair. The fair also raised awareness among city dwellers on tree plantation," he added.

The goal of the fair is to promote tree plantation and find a platform for nursery owners to help them market their products. "Nursery is no longer a street side business for low income people. Educated young people are joining the business. Plants in pots and floriculture are now a popular trade," said Tarek.

This year's attraction is various species of fruit plants, medicinal plants, flower seeds and ornamental plants, Tarek said adding that around 2 crore plants were sold last year and the participants hope that the sale would exceed this year.

Tarek observed that ornamental plants are gaining popularity in the city because of open space shortage. Besides, "ornamental plants can play a very important role in neutralising indoor air pollution."

Indoor plants such as Bamboo Palm, Chinese Evergreen, Warneckii, Peace Lily, Corn Plant, Marginata are a few of the many plants available in the fair that help reduce indoor air pollution.

Tarek however warned that some booths are deceiving customers with wrong information and plants.

Arif Ahmed, a resident of Mirpur 6, said, "I came here to buy some ornamental plants for the staircase in my apartment building. These plants are a big hit these days. However, after this fair ends, we would not know where to go to find plants because all the nurseries have been evacuated from the side of the streets."

Tarek, also expressed his concern over the disappearance of open spaces in the city and said, "The goal of this fair cannot be achieved if we do not have a regular supply of plants for the city all throughout the year. We need nurseries in every neighbourhood."

He added that Dhaka City Corporation has promised to allot the open spaces of the city to nurseries.