A young man in Faridpur’s Boalmari has found success growing the rare adenium — the “desert rose” — in a rooftop garden. Alongside a job at a private firm, Akash Saha began the garden as a hobby and has now established himself as a successful entrepreneur. On the 1,800-square-foot roof of his house he has built an eye-catching flower garden, with adeniums of many varieties and colours alongside numerous rare flowers and ornamental plants. Though the adenium’s original home is the desert regions of southern Africa, it is growing well in Bangladesh’s climate; its English name is “desert rose.”
On a visit, white, yellow, pink, orange, maroon, purple and multicoloured adenium blooms could be seen across the rooftop, drawing daily visitors and buyers from different areas. Akash Saha began six years ago with just 20 obesum-variety adenium plants, collected from Thailand at a cost of two to three thousand taka. Six years of labour and care later, the garden holds several thousand plants. He collects seed from the flowers himself and raises saplings from it; the garden currently holds flowering plants of various species and colours worth seven to eight lakh taka, and he earns on average 15,000 to 20,000 taka a month selling adenium and other saplings. His wife, Oishi Saha, said the couple tends the garden every morning and evening: “It gives us extra joy. People come from different places to see the garden and buy saplings. Adeniums need comparatively little water and care, but the flowers are very beautiful.” A visiting buyer, Al Amin, said he had come after seeing the garden online and wanted to arrange his own rooftop garden the same way.
Akash Saha said: “At first, many in the family and among relatives thought it madness. But what began as a hobby has now taken commercial shape. I built the garden with much labour and care. Now people from near and far come to see it and buy saplings.” He explained that although the adenium is a desert plant, it needs specially prepared soil — sand, rice husk, cocopeat, bone meal, charcoal, vermicompost and fungicide. “My garden now has plants priced from 100 taka up to 25,000 taka. The hotter it gets, the more the adenium flowers; there are blooms more or less year-round, though the plants go dormant in winter and shed leaves. Excess rain and water damage the flowers. This year the plants have been repotted and pruned, so I expect plenty of blooms.” Boalmari upazila agriculture officer Alvir Rahman said Boalmari is an agriculturally rich upazila whose entrepreneurs keep coming forward with new ventures: “Akash Saha has set an example by growing adenium on his rooftop. Most encouragingly, adenium cultivation is not yet widespread in our area — I hope it will spread further in Faridpur through Boalmari.” Upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) SM Rakibul Hasan said the upazila administration would work fully to stand by successful entrepreneurs like Akash Saha.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report