A few years ago Abdul Halim, 27, of Govindaganj in Gaibandha, prepared to go abroad as a labourer to escape unemployment. But he was cheated by a broker and could not go, and was left deeply frustrated. One day he saw on YouTube that people were succeeding by growing foreign orange varieties. On a friend's advice, in 2019 he began growing Darjeeling oranges on three bighas of his family's land beside a pond in the Barind area. He has now become largely self-reliant through orange farming and dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Abdul Halim is the son of Abdus Samad of Balya village in Shakhahar union, Govindaganj upazila. His orchard now has more than 200 orange trees, with fruit hanging in clusters. The trees began to bear two years after planting, and the following year, 2022, he sold about Tk 3 lakh worth of oranges to local traders.

Word spread to other areas that the oranges from his orchard were relatively good in taste and juice. This year, oranges worth more than Tk 1 lakh have already been sold from the 200 trees, and there is still fruit worth Tk 4 lakh to Tk 4.5 lakh on the trees.

Many people come every day to see the young man's orchard. Oranges are known as a hill fruit, and seeing them grown on the plains has sparked interest in many. His orchard has BARI-2, China-3 and Darjeeling varieties.

Local people said that when Abdul Halim started growing oranges, many called it madness. They did not take his work seriously, but they were amazed to see the fruit on the trees. He is now a model orange grower for many in the area, and seeing his success, many unemployed young people are becoming interested in orange farming.

Abdul Halim said: "Besides oranges, I have various other fruit trees here. Because the market for oranges is good, my interest in growing them grew. I have more than 200 trees of the BARI-2, China-3 and Darjeeling varieties on my three bighas. I made a good profit in 2022."

Sohel Rana of Shaktipur village, who came to see the orchard, told Jago News: "I have seen here that oranges can be grown in the soil of our upazila too. The oranges here are very sweet and juicy. I will start growing oranges myself."

Another visitor, Sanowar Hossain, told Jago News: "This orange orchard inspires me. If we start growing oranges like this, we will not have to import them. That will save the country money and give us fresh fruit."

Govindaganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Syed Reza-e-Mahmud told Jago News: "The success Halim has shown in growing oranges is a matter of pride for the agriculture department. The department will give him more technical support in future, and anyone interested in growing oranges will also get full support."

Agriculturist Md Khorshed Alam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Gaibandha, told Jago News: "Orange farming has created a new opportunity in Gaibandha, a northern district. No target has yet been set for orange cultivation, but the agriculture department will give Abdul Halim's orchard every kind of support."

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