Orange orchard in Lalmonirhat sees great success
Ekramul Haque, a farmer of Lalmonirhat sadar upazila, had leased four acres of land in Harati union back in 2018 to try his hand at growing oranges.
Together with his younger brother Ibrahim Khalil, he had planted 1,000 blood orange trees and 800 of the Darjeeling and China varieties at the time.
But after years of trial and error, Haque only just started getting the expected yields from 2021.
This year, each tree provided Haque with an average of one maund (roughly 37 kilogrammes) of the fruit, which he then sold directly from the garden for between Tk 2,800 and Tk 4,000 per maund.
"So far, 98 per cent of the fruits have been sold," he said.
The fruits produced at Haque's garden have previously sold for as much as Tk 60 lakh, about Tk 25 lakhs of which is paid for maintenance, labour costs and land rent.
"I never imagined I would be able to make so much profit by cultivating oranges," he added.
As the land in the area is high, it is suitable for cultivating temperate crops.
Haque went on to say that he plans to grow oranges as well as dragon fruits on an additional five acres of land next year.
His younger brother Khalil said many locals now approach them for advice on cultivation methods after seeing their success.
"We want local farmers to benefit from cultivating oranges and dragon fruit on their lands as it will bring economic prosperity to our area," he added.
Haque started out as a nurseryman in 1998 and then tried cultivating different fruits on a small plot of land in Fakirertokeya village in Lalmonirhat sadar upazila in 2017. Now, he even grows ginger, papaya and guava using the fruit bagging method as companion crops in his orange orchard.
Supen Chandra Barman, another farmer of Harati union, said he was motivated by Haque to start growing oranges on his six bighas of land.
However, he has since found that it takes a lot of capital to grow temperate fruits.
"So, I decided to cultivate oranges on a small scale from this year. For this, I am taking advice from Haque," he added.
Arsad Hossain, a fruit trader in Lalmonirhat town, said the oranges produced at Haque's garden not only cater to local demand, but that of other parts of the country as well.
Also, traders are benefitting by retailing the fruits bought from the orchard.
"If more people cultivate oranges and dragon fruit, then they could be sold all over the country after meeting local demand," he said.
"We sell local oranges for about Tk 150 per kilogramme [kg] but imported varieties go for up to Tk 280 per kg," Hossain added.
Hamidur Rahman, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Lalmonirhat, said orange trees start budding in the first week of April. The full-grown fruits are then suitable for consumption from the first week of October.
As the land is relatively high, the cultivation of oranges and dragon fruit is quite suitable in the area.
"So, if farmers want to cultivate these fruits, the DAE will provide its full cooperation," he added.
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