Farmer Humayun Kabir Faraji, 51, has drawn attention by growing vanilla — an expensive spice and aromatic crop — in Chuadanga for the first time. After four years of care, clusters of vanilla pods now hang in the greenhouse he built.
Humayun Kabir, a resident of Begumpur Colonypara in Chuadanga Sadar upazila, has built an integrated agricultural farm called “New Kamal Agro” on 18 bighas of land. Alongside fruit cultivation and livestock rearing, the farm’s special attraction is a vanilla garden grown under artificially controlled climate conditions on 10 kathas of land.
Long involved in the fruit business, Humayun began cultivating vanilla in 2022 after bringing vines of the Planifolia variety from a neighboring country. In the shaded, humid environment of the greenhouse, the vanilla vines have grown up around roughly 700 pillars, bearing pods 8-10 inches long, resembling long beans.
Humayun Kabir said he has spent about 900,000 taka on the vanilla garden so far. He expects to harvest about 120 kilograms of vanilla this season. Dried vanilla sells for 30,000 to 40,000 taka per kilogram in the market. After processing, he is aiming for sales of 700,000 to 800,000 taka this year.
He said that while growing vanilla in open fields is difficult in Bangladesh’s climate, the crop can be produced in a controlled environment by keeping the greenhouse temperature between 16 and 28 degrees Celsius.
Masudur Rahman Sarkar, deputy director of the Chuadanga Department of Agricultural Extension, said Humayun Kabir’s success proves vanilla cultivation is possible in the country with the right technology. He said that if this kind of farming can be expanded, it could help meet domestic demand while also creating opportunities to earn foreign currency through exports.