Starting with guava on five bighas of land in Bheramara, Kushtia, a father and son, Hazrat Ali and Rasel Hossain, have built a mixed fruit farm that now covers 70 bighas. Careful planning, modern methods and hard work have made their venture an example of successful farming enterprise.
They set up the orchard and nursery in 2014 on farmland next to the bridge in the Aorer Beel field at Fakirabad, in the upazila’s Mokarimpur union. It began as a five-bigha guava orchard and has gradually grown to 70 bighas.
To raise output, they watched farming videos online to learn modern techniques for fruit growing, disease control, irrigation and fertiliser use, and then applied them in their own orchard. With planned care and new methods, production rose steadily.
Improved varieties of guava, malta, orange, dragon fruit, banana, grape, jujube, sapodilla, strawberry and lemon are now grown on 30 bighas of the farm. Rasel Hossain said every tree is regularly pruned, given balanced fertiliser and irrigation, and protected against disease, which has raised both yield and quality. Thanks to good weather and modern care, the guava harvest this season is much bigger than last year’s, he said, and the large, sweet fruit is in good demand.
Hazrat Ali said that besides wholesalers, ordinary buyers now come from far away to pick fruit at the orchard. Buyers get fresh fruit, and the family gets a fair price without middlemen. Guava is now selling at Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,400 a maund.
Local farmers say the pair’s success has made them keen to take up modern, profitable mixed fruit farming too.
Md Robiul Islam, sub-assistant agriculture officer in Bheramara, said the agriculture department is offering various kinds of support to draw young people into farming. He said the venture shows that modern technology, planned management and hard work together can make farming a profitable and respected occupation, and that it is possible to become a successful entrepreneur without leaving home.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report