Strawberry grower speaks of success

“I have cultivated strawberries on 70 decimals of land at Baliadanga village under Kaliganj upazila and the financial returns were quite good,” said the energetic and optimistic farmer Md. Ashraf Hossain Swapan. Winding up the business of insecticide and fertilizer, he has moved to farming of strawberries and other vegetables. Young people of the village and of adjacent villages crowd his farming area and seek his advice to develop an idea about strawberry farming, which is fairly new to the area.

Swapan, with a smiling face, said that he is lucky to have learnt how to cultivate strawberries. It will change his fortune due to bumper yield. He is selling strawberries at Tk 300 per kg. He was inspired to take this up by a fellow insecticide and fertilizer trader. He planted 9500 seedlings of Russian variety 'Festubal' on November 15 last year at the cost of Tk one lakh eight thousand and started harvesting on 15 January 2015. He will harvest up to the end of March. If the weather remains favourable he will expects to be able to sell his output at Tk 6 lakh, and expect to turn a profit of about Tk four lakh. He has already sold strawberries worth about Tk 50-60 thousand.

When asked about demand in the market, he informed that strawberries are selling like hot cake. Neighbouring traders of upazila markets and districts are thronging at the plot every day to purchase this delicious and attractive new fruit. He is not able to meet the buyer's expectation at the moment, and wishes to expand his cultivation area to two acres in the coming year. 

Deputy Director Akramul Haque of AED in Jhenidah said, “Strawberry cultivation is very profitable. The soil of this district is very suitable for this fruit. We will support any farmer who reaches out to us for assistance.” Agriculture office sources said that they have no official strawberry statistics in the office yet as it has not been cultivated commercially in the district.