Oasis in the sand

Four short years ago, on the Jamuna river's eastern bank beside the Bangabandhu Bridge in Tangail's Bhuapur upazila, there was a large patch of ground overrun with river sand. Most people would have dismissed it as a wasteland. But when Ibrahim Ali Mondol passed by while sitting aboard a Dhaka-bound train from his native Natore, through the window he saw something else: the potential for a grand orchard.

“It was a huge amount of land, around 27 acres, not being put to use,” Ibrahim recalls. “I decided to lease it.” He did just that, at first sub-leasing the land from Jamuna Resort Limited and two years later switching to a lease from the Bangabandhu Bridge Authority.

Ibrahim rented a home in nearby Pathailkandi and settled in along with his wife and son. His dream of creating an orchard in the sand hadn't come from nowhere. Ibrahim worked in Saudi Arabia for several years. He'd seen it done before.

“It isn't easy to grow plants in sand,” he says, “but with modern, scientific methodology and hard labour it's possible. Saudi farmers grow all sorts of fruit and vegetables in the desert.”

For as long as Ibrahim remembers, he has been passionate about plants, especially fruit trees. The orchardist was born in a small trader's family in Sonapatil village of Natore's Naldanga upazila, passing his Secondary School Certificate exam in 1987. Ibrahim then completed a two-year diploma in air-conditioning technology before leaving for the Middle East.

Upon his return eight years later he thought to start a broadband internet business in Dhaka, which along with some friends he did. Though business was good, Ibrahim longed for nothing more than to find himself in nature's midst, surrounded by trees.

So he set to work, preparing the soil. He invested all his savings earned at home and abroad in the process. His wife sold her gold jewellery. “The trick is to first dig the hole and add cow dung,” Ibrahim says. “I plant each sapling on top of dung, with a little sand added again. It's important to water them generously as soon as they're planted.”

“Even then,” he continues, “only about 85 percent of the saplings will survive the sandy soil, but it's easy enough to replace any that have died.”

Once established, Ibrahim keeps the trees healthy with mostly organic and some chemical fertiliser, and regular water.

Four years on and the results are astounding. Ibrahim's mixed orchard features around 3,000 mango trees of at least seven varieties. He has 6,000 guava, 500 jujube and 2,000 lemon trees.

Ibrahim grows pineapples, hog plums, dragon fruit, sweet tamarind, Indian almonds locally known as “kath badam”, and “alu bukhara” plums. The farm's vegetable repertoire includes pumpkin, brinjal and green chilli. Over 100 medicinal species are grown, such as aloe vera, tulsi, red sandalwood, “shatamul” wild asparagus and “kalomegh”.

“In the last two years I sold fruit worth Tk 6 lakh,” says Ibrahim. “This year I hope to sell Tk 10 lakh of produce. By 2020, the farm should be bringing in about Tk 50 lakh every year.”

“It's truly remarkable what Ibrahim has done with that sandy, riverside land,” says Bhuapur's sub-assistant plant protection officer, Habibur Rahman. “I was really surprised. The benefits of his work go beyond the huge amount of fruit produced. His farm enhances the area's crop diversity.”

For Ibrahim, developing his orchard has been in large part a labour of love, driven by an unstoppable passion for trees. “In our country we don't have as many trees as we need,” he says, with particular concern for global warming. “I urge everyone to plant at least two fruit trees in their household yard, and more in any other place that's suitable.”