Selim shines in malta farming
Riverine lands are naturally fertile and Panchagarh's Shubhasujon village is no exception as the river Korotoa flows through it. In the past, people used to cultivate rice, nuts and sugarcane in these lands. But, after closure of the sugar mills, cultivation of sugarcane has gradually decreased. Now vast tea gardens lie on these lands. However, apart from the tea gardens, cultivation of different varieties of fruit is also increasing. With the rise of agricultural diversity our food habit is changing. Long ago, we used to see fruit as patient's diet, but gradually fruits have made their way to our breakfast and dinner table. Keeping the demand in mind, cultivation of various foreign fruits is also increasing. Cultivation of malta, guava, dragon, strawberry, pineapple, and avocado are increasing every day.
Syed Mahfuzar Rahman Selim from Sujalpur village in Dinajpur's Birganj upazila has created a surprising venture at Shubhasujon village in Boda upazila. Selim, who started his career as a contractor, always had a passion for farming.
He first started with a poultry farm, but faced a huge loss. He then took a lease of 60 bighas (19.83 acres) of land for 15 years and had a thought to start a tea garden. But the profit margin seemed too meagre to him.
Instead, he planted 9,000 malta plants of BARI-1 variety and built an orchard back in 2019. The huge orchard has become one of the prominent attractions of Panchagarh as the yield is quite overwhelming. Selim said he has to pay Tk 6.6 lakh (USD 6,548) for the lease every year. Prior to starting the orchard, Selim visited many successful malta orchards and met a number of entrepreneurs across the country.
"How much do you expect to sell," I asked Selim.
"Tk 35 to 40 lakh (USD 39,685) this year," he replied.
He has invested about Tk 1 crore (USD 99,217) in the last three years. He said if everything goes well, he will be able to get back his investment by next year.
Mohammad Al Mamun Ar Rashid, officer at Panchagarh Department of Agriculture, said Selim's malta orchard is one of the largest in the country. Due to the favourable weather and soil quality of Panchagarh, malta cultivation has a great potential there. Although, the colour of imported malta is yellow, the colour of Bangladeshi variety is green, added Al Mamun. The green malta has an increased demand across the country as well.
Modern farming means, farmer must have a good understanding of the market management and Selim worked on this extensively.
He built the orchard to promote agricultural tourism, since Panchagarh is getting tourists' attractions as people can see the peak of the Kanchenjunga Mountain clearly from this district.
I saw many tourists roaming around Selim's orchard. People even kept on coming to his orchard, when the sun is about to set, the officer said.
Cultivation of high-value crops like malta is increasing in Bangladesh. People also making extra money by planting papaya, banana and other crops in their malta gardens. The demand for malta is increasing due to its rich nutrient value and quality presence of Vitamin C.
Alongside malta, cultivation of other fruits is also expanding commercially. At present, agriculture is changing rapidly in Bangladesh. Not only success, I also heard many failure stories.
Therefore, before taking any initiative, the calculation of profit and loss must be understood. Moreover, you have to understand the language of the soil and crops. May this initiative of Selim be successful and diversified crop growers and agricultural tourism sector become more popular in our country.