Year-round production of diverse fruits is growing in Bangladesh. Over the past decade, mango and guava output has doubled, papaya has grown two and a half times and litchi by 50 per cent. Among new fruits expanding rapidly in the past four or five years, dragon fruit leads. Banana has gained the most land, but dragon fruit is growing fastest among nutritious fruits.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), dragon fruit covered only 5 hectares in 2014-15, 341 hectares in 2019-20 and about 500 hectares in the 2020-21 season. Across the country, farmers are moving away from conventional crops towards non-traditional, high-value fruit, and dragon fruit has become a favourite of entrepreneurs.

At Basantapur in Godagari upazila, Rajshahi, beside the Rajshahi-Chapainawabganj road, stands a large dragon fruit orchard only two years old. Entrepreneur Helal Hedayetul Islam, who calls himself a devoted farmer, said he held various jobs but finally joined commercial farming to stay close to the soil and produce safe food. He has built a 50-bigha farm.

In a 15-bigha section, he is experimenting with different supports: brick-and-cement posts, bamboo posts, long crosswise rows and individual posts. The aim is higher output at lower cost.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Hridoye Mati O Manush. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.