Ahmed Fazle Rabbi, 28, has fully succeeded in experimental grape farming in Faridpur. He grew several grape varieties and made a mark in his very first year, and says he will farm commercially on a larger scale from next year.

Fazle Rabbi, son of Sheikh Abdur Rob of Goalchamot neighbourhood on Road 1 in the town, has loved planting trees since childhood. In 2022, as a hobby, he planted four seedlings of four grape types on the roof of his house. In 2023 he leased 70 decimals of land near Shobharampur union parishad on the edge of town for five years for Tk 2 lakh 25 thousand and set up a garden named Three Star Green. Alongside other fruit, he began growing grapes experimentally on 50 decimals.

On the 50 decimals there are about 450 one-year-old vines of various new and old varieties. Almost every vine carries bunches of green, red and black grapes. This year's grapes, however, are all for visitors; he will not sell grapes this season. His varieties include Baikunur, Dixon, Fantasy Seedless, Naru Seedless, Marsel Forus and Vitalia Early Red.

Visitors crowd to see the grape garden every day, and he picks grapes for them to eat. The grapes are in no way inferior to those bought in the market; some are even sweeter and tastier.

"Besides grapes there are malta, orange, lychee, pineapple and other fruit trees. In all, setting up the garden cost more than Tk 3 lakh in the first year, although collecting grape seedlings from home and abroad at the start cost more. Now I produce and sell grape seedlings myself," Fazle Rabbi told Jagonews24.

"Each grape seedling needs spacing of three and a half feet by six feet. More organic fertiliser should be given, and chemical fertiliser used once a year, during the heavy rains. Pesticide should be used once a month depending on pests. Vines bear fruit a year after planting, though some varieties take two years," he said.

He added that seedlings of various varieties are available at his garden, starting at Tk 300, with some at Tk 600-700. "People come every day to see the garden and buy seedlings. Overall I consider myself successful in grape farming. I seek the agriculture department's cooperation for further success."

Mahbub Piyal, a resident of the town, said: "Grapes, a foreign fruit, are being grown in Faridpur. When I learned about it I went to the garden and liked it very much. I picked grapes from the vine with my own hands, and they are good in taste and smell, and sweet."

Sagar Nandi, president of the Faridpur Gardeners Association, said interest in grape farming is rare among Bangladeshi farmers because of weather, soil, lack of knowledge of commercial farming and other reasons. But the grapes young entrepreneur Ahmed Fazle Rabbi has grown experimentally are incomparable, sweet and tasty, he said, adding that with government patronage he would achieve wide success.

Agriculturist Md Rafiqul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Faridpur, told Jagonews24: "I have heard about the garden. The grapes are tasty and sweet. Besides visiting his garden, we are encouraging farmers to grow grapes, and we are giving the grower all kinds of support. Faridpur's soil and climate suit grape farming. Growing grapes on rooftops, in homesteads and on land is easy and profitable."

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