Because of the coronavirus pandemic, no tree fair was held in the capital for the past two years. With infections down, the fair has returned. The month-long fair began on 5 June on the ground next to the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Agargaon and will run until 4 July. It has already become a gathering place for nature lovers, and saplings, fertiliser and gardening tools are selling well.

The fair, organised by the Forest Department, has 110 stalls. Thousands of saplings are sold every day. Entry is free, and the fair is open to visitors from 9am to 8pm daily.

On 14 June, plant lovers had come from far and wide to buy saplings and plants for rooftop gardens and indoor decoration.

Salespeople from the nurseries walked visitors around, telling them the names of plants and how soon they would fruit or flower. Buyers inspected the plants and asked how to care for them and what fertiliser to use, and bought them when the price and the plant suited them.

Those involved say fruit trees are the top sellers: lemon, mango, guava, orange, kamranga (star fruit), chalta, kotbel (wood apple) and jambura (pomelo). These sell for Tk 500 to Tk 20,000, though sellers say larger trees are selling less.

Decorative indoor plants such as money plant, orchids and cacti are also in demand, priced from Tk 450 to Tk 5,000.

Forest Department official Ishika Pal told Jagonews that turnout is a little lower in the mornings because of the heat but rises after midday. From 5 to 12 June, 396,877 plants were sold, worth Tk 2 crore 18 lakh 14 thousand 778.

People are buying a lot of mango and guava trees, she said, and women are buying small plants. Plants worth Tk 20 lakh 74 were sold on the first day alone, which shows that people have a real wish to buy and care for plants.

Every stall (nursery) has farm tools and fancy varieties of plants, and rows of plants of many species are laid out on the open ground outside the stalls, from mango to avocado and Dust Golden apple. There are flowering plants from shapla (water lily) and lotus onwards, as well as herb and spice seedlings.

Mansur Alam Mahmud Kawsar, owner of Mahua Nursery from Keraniganj, told Jagonews that many foreign fruits are now grown in the country's own soil. As every year, demand for fruit trees is high, but big trees costing over Tk 8,000 are selling less. Among fruits, mango, lemon and guava are selling, and among flowers, joba (hibiscus), rose, hasnahena and gondhoraj. In other years mango saplings sold among the big trees, but this year sales are lower.

Some plants at Diploma Krishi Nursery were bearing apples. Asked whether apples grow in Bangladesh, owner Md Khokon told Jagonews that three types grow here: Dust Golden, Anna and Harimon-99. The trees fruit once a year, and the fruit is tasty and sweet.

He said rooftop gardeners who care for their plants properly can get the fruit and flowers they want, but many do not, which is why the plants die quickly.

At the Mahananda Nursery stall, indoor plants for home decoration were selling well. Sales representative Mousumi Naznin said their indoor plants sell better than other plants. "Our prices are a little lower. Small plants are available from Tk 300 to Tk 1,500. But people are also taking fruit and flower trees from here."

Shiuli Akter came to the fair from Badda with her son and daughter. "I come to the fair every year. There was no fair for the past two years, so I am very happy it is on now. My house and roof are full of plants. I came to buy some indoor plants," she said. Prices are the same as before and have not risen much, she added, although the stalls at the front naturally ask a little more and those further inside a little less.

Asabur Rahman, from Mohammadpur, also said plant prices had not risen much. "People who buy plants regularly and know them know the real price, so there is no chance of charging them more," he said.

A university student who bought orchids and jackfruit, guava and lemon trees said everyone should plant more native fruit and flower trees, because they are easy to care for, and if these trees disappear, so will our distinct identity.

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