A young farmer in Nawabganj upazila of Dinajpur is harvesting the area's first commercial grape crop. Green, brown and maroon bunches hang in Tawhidul Islam Tawhid's garden even out of season, and people from nearby areas come every day to see it.
Tawhid, son of Mohammad Ali of Noleya village, started on just 10 decimals of land with 85 grapevines of different varieties. The garden holds about 15 varieties, and the vines began bearing fruit within a short time.
He said that because nobody in the area grew grapes, many people told him at first that it could not be done there. He learned trellis building, pruning, fertiliser use and disease control from YouTube videos and began with a trial plot on his own land. After that first success, he is now preparing a vineyard on nearly four bighas.
Nawabganj upazila agriculture officer Zahidul Islam Elias called the effort praiseworthy: the young grower had moved beyond conventional crops and used modern techniques to succeed with grapes. The upazila agriculture office gives him regular advice and technical help, and the officer hopes other farmers will follow.
Mokhlesar Rahman, a lecturer at Mogorpara Degree College who taught Tawhid, said the grapes are sweet and the yield good, and that with government and private support Tawhid could grow into a bigger entrepreneur.
The upazila agriculture office says that if modern grape growing spreads in Nawabganj, the crop's commercial prospects will grow, and that it will keep helping interested farmers. The report is by The Daily Observer's correspondent.
Photo: Sarah Stierch / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Source: The Daily Observer
Comments
(0)