Bamboo is used for all sorts of work in towns and villages. But one bamboo has truly surprised people in the area: "lucky bamboo". In some countries it is called friendship bamboo, curly bamboo, Chinese water bamboo or goddess of mercy plant, among other names. Many people believe keeping it at home brings good luck, so it is used to decorate homes. In Gaibandha, in the north, this bamboo is now being grown commercially for the first time.

Hafiz and Hasibul of Panchgachhi Shantiram in Sundarganj upazila have grown lucky bamboo together. Pots of various designs made with lucky bamboo are now going beyond the country's borders to several Middle Eastern countries. By earning foreign currency this way, the two brothers have ended their unemployment within a few years.

According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), because the lucky bamboo plant is dark green, keeping it indoors raises the oxygen level in the house, and looking at green keeps eyesight normal. Although it is called bamboo, the plant is not actually a bamboo species; it belongs to a tropical water lily species.

On the spot, it was found that Hafiz and Hasibul have grown three different colours of lucky bamboo on three bigha of land divided into four parts. One part has green bamboo, another green with white stripes, and another dark green. Because it does not grow in direct sunlight, green net-like cloth has been stretched over the land to give half light and half shade.

On entering the garden, the eye is caught by the striking beauty of the lush green plants. Each design, arranged to suit a pot, sells for Tk 700 to Tk 1,000, sometimes more. On that basis, Hafiz earns Tk 2 lakh to Tk 3 lakh from each export shipment.

Lucky bamboo is among the most popular indoor plants for decorating upmarket homes, and it is being grown commercially as demand rises day by day. The two brothers first grew it on five decimals of land in 2014, and their luck began to turn from there. Now striped white, yellow, green and dark green lucky bamboo grow on three plots on three bigha. Their decorative pots go to many Middle Eastern countries, including Oman, Qatar, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. It is valued more in desert countries because it gives plenty of oxygen.

Many people are becoming interested after seeing their farm, and workers support their families by tending the brothers' garden. Local people said beautiful items are made from this bamboo, and they hope others will become entrepreneurs like the two brothers and end unemployment.

College student Ismail Hossain said: "Various home decor products made from bamboo are going abroad, and we are earning foreign currency. This is very good. The country's unemployed young people need to become entrepreneurs and self-reliant instead of chasing jobs so much."

Young entrepreneur Hafiz said: "At first I was quite disheartened. Where would I sell these products? But these home decor products are going not just within the country but abroad too, and we are earning. We have become quite self-reliant. I hope others like me can become entrepreneurs and create jobs."

Md Khorshed Alam, deputy director of the district DAE, told Jagonews: "The agriculture department always stands by entrepreneurs like these. More initiatives are needed to expand cultivation. Growing lucky bamboo can earn Tk 1 lakh 28 thousand per bigha."

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