Once known as an exotic foreign fruit, passion fruit is now being cultivated commercially in various parts of the country. After a successful trial crop, agricultural entrepreneur Halim Ahmed Bacchu has begun commercial cultivation on one bigha of land.
At Bacchu’s garden in Kodalia Para village, Chadgram union, Bheramara upazila, Kushtia district, green vines are seen with the attractive green fruit of the passion fruit, also known as “anarkoli” or “tang fruit,” a warm-climate South American plant, hanging among the leaves. He said: “Fruit starts coming about eight months after the seedlings are planted, but after that, it keeps bearing fruit year-round. It can be grown using only organic fertilizer, without any chemical fertilizer or pesticide. Because it’s climate-resilient, has a sweet-and-sour taste, is relatively low-cost to grow, and has few disease problems, interest in cultivating it is growing among nearby farmers too.”
He expressed hope that if small agricultural entrepreneurs receive support from the agriculture department, farmers like him could go even further.
He further said: “I’ve been involved in farming since childhood. My father and grandfather were farmers too. Agriculture is my family’s only source of income. Last year, I first saw this fruit being cultivated at a garden belonging to a man named Stalin in Mahespur, Jhenaidah district. I collected seedlings from there and planted them on my one bigha of land.”
Bacchu also said: “Within a short time, new leaves sprout on the vines, and the plants grow quickly, like gourd vines. Later, I built a trellis for them. Growing on the trellis, they produced beautiful flowers within just eight months, followed by fruit. The plants I planted eight months ago are now beginning to bear ripe fruit.”
Bacchu has spent roughly 150,000 taka so far setting up his one-bigha passion fruit garden. If the current yield and market price hold, he hopes to sell around 1 million taka worth of fruit by the end of the season.
People from surrounding areas are also coming to see Bacchu’s garden. Seeing the cultivation and yield of this new fruit is generating interest among other farmers as well. Bheramara Upazila Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer Sadrul Islam said: “In various parts of the country, this fruit is known as anarkoli, passion fruit or tang fruit. Cultivation is new in Bheramara, but this season it is being grown commercially on many plots of land across the upazila.”