Jhenaidah, in the west of the country, is famous for banana and betel leaf, but its farmers have not stopped there. Overcoming new challenges, they are growing a range of local and foreign fruit. Cultivation of dragon fruit, malta, orange and Thai guava has grown many times over, and avocado farming has increased. Farmers who began growing these fruits as a hobby have gradually turned them into a business. Those involved see potential not only to meet domestic demand but to export.

According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), cultivation of malta, dragon fruit, guava, banana and orange rose sharply in the district's six upazilas in the latest 2023-24 season, with new dragon fruit, guava and malta orchards set up. Seeing farmers' interest, government offices are providing information and support.

Alongside these, avocado and grapes are now grown in parts of Kaliganj, Kotchandpur, Maheshpur and Sadar upazilas. Many farmers tried grapes as a hobby and succeeded in the first year, and avocado growers are smiling too. Because cultivation of these fruits is limited, they have not yet been exported, but if it expands there is a great opportunity to export avocado, dragon fruit and grapes.

Agricultural extension officers say Jhenaidah's soil and nature are diverse, and farmers succeed with almost any crop. Some hard-working farmers have succeeded with trial cultivation on their own initiative, and others then begin commercial production of the same crop. Jhenaidah's malta, banana, guava and dragon fruit have become very popular in the country.

Tuhin Hossain, a malta grower in Kotchandpur upazila, said: "I first planted a malta orchard as a hobby in 2019. Now I have a commercial orchard. The yield is good every year, the price is good, and the malta tastes very good."

Dragon fruit grower Shimul Ahmed said: "The quality of the dragon fruit we grow is very good. Because of some dishonest people, various false claims have spread about dragon fruit, but no one can question the quality of fruit collected from the field. The dragon fruit we grow is also being exported."

Several wholesalers at the Kotchandpur fruit market said dragon fruit, guava, malta, banana and orange are collected from the fields and sent to Dhaka, Chattogram and across the country, and fruit grown in villages is now also exported, making Jhenaidah farmers more interested in fruit farming.

Saidur Rahman, a fruit trader from Dhaka, said: "Jhenaidah's fruit is of very good quality. We supply it to Dhaka and other big cities, and when supply is high we also send it abroad. If farmers grow fruit with export targets in mind, the economic gains will be greater."

According to the district DAE, improved guava varieties are grown on 1,465 hectares this year, most of all in Kotchandpur, with 600 hectares. The district also has 1,012 hectares of dragon fruit, 4,915 hectares of banana, 146 hectares of malta and 73 hectares of orange.

Banana is grown most in Shailkupa, on 1,215 hectares, and in Sadar upazila on 1,175 hectares. Malta is grown most in Maheshpur upazila (60 hectares), which also leads for orange (50 hectares), while Kotchandpur leads for dragon fruit (439 hectares).

Shamsuzzaman, a guava and lemon grower in Sadar upazila, said: "I started farming alongside my job. Guava has been a great success. The guava grown in our district is very tasty, and there is strong demand for Jhenaidah's guava, dragon fruit and banana. Many people are now getting interested in fruit farming."

Shashti Chandra Roy, deputy director of the district DAE, said Jhenaidah's soil and environment have a unique quality and almost every kind of crop does well. Dragon fruit, malta, banana, guava and avocado cultivation is increasing day by day. Many farmers grew grapes on trial this year and are so far happy with the yield, but the department is still working on whether commercial production is possible.

He said farmers are being given support and training on producing safe fruit and crops with less pesticide and chemical fertiliser, and field staff work regularly with smallholders on this. If safe, quality fruit can be produced, there is great potential to earn foreign currency from exports.

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