After rice, jute and wheat failed to pay, farmer Akter Hossain of Patibila village in Chaugachha upazila, Jashore, turned to a year-round drumstick (moringa) and has made it work. From one bigha of the ODC-3 variety he hopes to make a profit of Tk 3 to 5 lakh a year.
In 2023 he planted 300 ODC-3 seedlings brought from India through the Jashore Horticulture Centre. Neighbours laughed at first, but within months the trees were bearing. He has spent Tk 15,000 to 20,000 in all and has already sold about Tk 50,000 worth of drumsticks; this season he hopes to sell Tk 4 to 5 lakh worth.
His healthy trees now carry 8 to 10 kg each, selling at Tk 100 to 150 a kilo. A tree can bear for five or six years, flowering and fruiting at different times of the year, and he expects three or four harvests a year. Many local farmers are coming to see his field.
Dipankar Das, deputy director of the Jashore Horticulture Centre, says quality ODC-3 seedlings are produced there by tissue culture. Trees can start bearing five to six months after planting, and the variety can also be grown around homesteads. Last year the centre produced about 7,000 seedlings, 6,000 of which farmers took; this year the target is 10,000.
Pratap Mondal, additional director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Jashore, says ODC-3 opens the prospect of flowers and pods all year. With government support, higher output and an export-ready market, he says, it could help meet nutritional needs and give farmers a new source of income.
The report was filed by Krishi Shomoy's Jashore correspondent.
Photo: drumstick (moringa) pods on the tree, Krish Dulal / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Krishi Shomoy
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