'Kulboroi' now money-spinner for Bagerhat farmer

Apel Kul, that looks like apple, has become very popular since the beginning of its farming a few years ago and has been earning a lot of money for the farmers.

Farming of 'kulboroi' (a kind of plum) has turned out to be a real money-spinner for Narayan Halder of Gotapara village.
He has witnessed  a fabulous success in cultivating the popular seasonal fruit by adopting modern technology.
A sexagenarian, Narayan of Sadar upazila began cultivation of 'apel kul' (a species of the plum having shape of apple) in 2009 by planting only three saplings.
Since then, he has kept expanding farming of the fruit every year.
This year, he cultivated 'apel kul' and 'narkel kul' (another species, of coconut shape) on about 50 bighas of land.
At present, there are about 2,000 apel and narkel kul plants in his gardens.
He collects a staggering 320 kgs of 'apel kul' from each tree.
He has so far sold 'kulboroi' worth over Tk 50 lakh from the third week of December, 2013.
He is expected to sell 'kulboroi' till the second week of February.
Last season, he sold plum worth about Tk 40 lakh.
From the beginning of the season, his 'kulboroi' is being sent to the wholesale markets of Dhaka where it is sold at Tk100 to Tk 110 per kg.
His produce is on sale at different fruit shops in the capital city and Chittagong.
He hoped that he would be able to export 'kulboroi' if he gets government patronisation.
Narayan said he employed 50 people to take care of tend his gardens every day.
Taking advice from him, more than 100 people from different villages, including Gotapara, Pashchimbagh, Naoapara and Hariakhali, of Sadar upazila started cultivating 'kulboroi' on their fallow lands.
Narayan believes if the interested cultivators were given  technological training, government support and agriculture departments supervision, , there could be a revolution in plum cultivation.
According to sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Bagerhat, soil of the district is suitable for plum cultivation.
Different types of fruits are being cultivated on 1,23,090 bighas of land in the district.
Of them, 'kulboroi'  alone is cultivated on over 2,000 bighas.