Grapes may be a foreign fruit, but Chandpur entrepreneur Kamruzzaman Pradhania has succeeded in growing the popular fruit for the first time in the district. Aiming for commercial production, he has already started grape farming on 20 decimals of land.

Locals claim grapes can be grown successfully in Chandpur's soil, and that the district headquarters area is especially suitable. The juicy foreign fruit can now be seen beside the Chandpur-Matlab road in Sadar upazila, hanging in bunches. The green grapes dangling from bamboo trellises in the field catch the eye of passers-by from a distance.

In Bangladesh, if grapevines are pruned in October-November, fruit comes in March-April, followed by a crop in winter. Grapes generally need a place with moderate rainfall where water does not stand on the soil. The weather must be dry and warm.

If it rains while the grapes are ripening, both the quality and the shape of the fruit are spoiled. Growers must also guard against birds eating the fruit. With balanced fertiliser and proper care, a single vine can bear fruit year after year. Many people have been flocking to the farm on hearing of the district's first commercial grape cultivation, and the crop is giving young people hope of escaping unemployment.

Entrepreneur Mohammad Kamruzzaman Pradhania said: "I started working on grape farming in 2021, when Covid began to ease. I started my project six months ago. At first I began with some varieties from a rooftop garden. From 2023 I have had quite good results in yield."

He said: "Out of 44 varieties in the garden, 120 mother plants have started to flower. Some vines are already bearing fruit. The garden has been tended for six months, at a cost of about Tk 15 lakh. We are growing the Green Long, Akelo, Baiko Nur, Loras, Veles, Dixon, Super Nova and Naru Seedless varieties."

Visitors Md Tanvir Hossain and Amir Hossain Sarkar said: "There is no other large grape garden in Chandpur, so we came to see this one. We are being inspired to start a garden ourselves. We did not succeed when we planted seedlings in our yards and on rooftops, but seeing this place encourages us again. We are taking advice and grape seedlings from him."

Anisul Islam and Sadika Begum, agriculture officers for Kalyanpur and Ashikati unions, said: "Grapes do well in red loamy soil, gravelly soil rich in organic fertiliser and the alluvial soil of the hills. The land must be high, where water does not stand, and a site that gets plenty of sunlight must be chosen. We are providing advice and support."

Dr Safayet Ahammad Siddiqui, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Chandpur, said: "Grapes were not grown in Chandpur before; what was grown was experimental. This time Kamruzzaman has started growing sweet grapes for the first time in the district. We are aware of his grape farming."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.