This is Gomostapur in Chapainawabganj. Wherever the eye falls, commercial farming is being practised, and the crop landscape is captivating. Farmers here are moving away from traditional farming towards non-traditional, high-value fruits and crops, and the whole area's farming and landscape are changing. Educated young people are playing a big role in this change.

Local young man Rafiqul Islam is one such entrepreneur. After his studies, he first became a college teacher, but seeing successful farm ventures around him, he left his job and planted a jujube orchard in 2009. Seeing great potential, he set up a guava orchard in 2012 and expanded it to 63 bighas in 2014.

In just 11 years he has achieved incredible success, building a farm of 840 bighas in all. His integrated farm has fish in huge ponds along with mango, guava, malta and dragon fruit. A recent episode showed his year-round mango orchard.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Krishi Dibanishi. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.