Moslemuddin's 'fruitful' venture

Retired BGB man Moslemuddin, who successfully raised a mango orchard in Sadullapur upazila of Gaibandha, poses for photograph with his grandchild. Photo: Star

Moslemuddin of Heyali village in Sadullapur upazila under the district is now happy owner of a quality mango orchard, using the bank of his pond for the purpose.
"After retirement from my service of the then BDR, I started mango plantation in 2002. I collected 26 varieties of quality mango saplings from different areas and planted those around the bank of a 2.34-acre pond. The trees started bearing fruits three years ago," Moslemuddin said.
He took technical help and other support from the upazila agriculture officials to make his initiative a success.
"In the first year I earned Tk 40,000 from sale of mango. I expect Tk one lakh this season," he said.
The varieties available in the mango orchard include amropali, haribhanga, lengra, surjupuri, gopalbhog and fazli.
"There is high demand of such varieties. Fruit traders from distant places visit my garden and procure matured green mangoes," said the orchard owner.
Visiting the orchard on Tuesday, this correspondent saw huge quantity of late variety mangoes hanging in the trees. Most of the early varieties have already been sold out.
Abdul Quddus, a fruit trader of Pirganj upazila, however, said this year mango trading sees a little setback as customers often shy away from mango in fear of formalin.
"Moslemuddin has set a good example for the fruit growers. Earlier he received a government prize for his contribution to tree plantation campaign," said Obaidur Rahman, upazila agriculture officer of Sadullapur.