Sajib Chowdhury of the Fatullah BSCIC area in Narayanganj set up a garden on a rooftop as a hobby, choosing saplings of his favourite fruit, the grape. The garden now has about 70-80 plants, mostly grape vines, of about 35 varieties.

Every vine carries hanging clusters of grapes. The garden does not produce grapes commercially, but it meets the household's needs, and grapes are often given to relatives as gifts.

Sajib Chowdhury built the garden on the roof of a four-storey building owned by Shahidul Islam in the Fatullah BSCIC area. Shahidul Islam is his brother-in-law, which is how Sajib came to garden on his roof. Besides grapes, the garden has pomegranate, mango, amloki, pomelo and year-round jackfruit, about 20 to 25 kinds of local and foreign fruit plants in all.

The plants have turned the roof green, with clusters of grapes hanging from every branch of the vines. Because the garden is so attractive, people come from different parts of the town to see it, and many are showing interest in making gardens of their own.

"I really started the garden as a hobby," Sajib Chowdhury said. "I have been gardening for six years. At first I could not make a permanent garden because I was living abroad. I tried to garden while abroad but it did not work out. But I used to take part in gardening events there, and I had wanted to make a garden ever since."

He said: "When I thought of coming home for good, I decided to make a garden, chose my favourite fruit, the grape, and decided on a grape garden. I collected grape saplings from some well-wishers abroad, getting them in various ways from Ukraine, Italy, Turkey and Japan. Collecting one or two at a time, I have gathered 163 varieties of grape."

On what to do if you want a grape garden, Sajib said anyone who wants a garden can make one; it need not be grapes, but a grape garden can also pay. You can grow them with your own care on a roof or in a yard. Grapes are yielding well in Bangladesh, but you have to wait three years; after that you get a good crop.

"My collection has grown so large that I am now trying to spread it," he said. "To that end we have opened a Facebook group called Saj Garden. There are many gardeners in the group, and many collect these varieties from us free of charge. We have been giving them as gifts through various competitions."

Tahmina Akter Rina, Narayanganj Sadar upazila agriculture extension officer, told Jagonews: "We are looking into it. If his grapes are good, we will work on this, and it will open up potential for grapes."

Mohammad Shah Alam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Narayanganj, told Jagonews: "Grapes have been grown in our country for a long time, but they turn out sour rather than sweet. The grapes grown here are said to be sweet. If so, that is very good. I will talk to Sajib Chowdhury about it myself."

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