A farmer named Rafiqul Islam has succeeded in growing oranges in Jhenaidah. His orchard fruited for the first time this year, and the local agriculture office says the oranges are of the Darjeeling variety. It is the first report of this orange being grown on the country's plains.

Senior officials of the agriculture department and of the administration at various levels have visited Rafiqul Islam's orchard. It is in Chapatala village of Swarupur union in Maheshpur upazila, 64 kilometres from Jhenaidah town, and only 400 yards from the Indian border. The agriculture department is already working to spread cultivation of this promising fruit across the country.

Local sources say Rafiqul is the son of Ainuddin Mondal of Chapatala village, and the middle child of three brothers and five sisters. He has long been in the nursery business. He had no farmland of his own, but recently bought 10 kathas of land with money from selling oranges. On 4 bighas of sharecropped land he has 120 Darjeeling orange trees, as well as 30 China orange trees and 500 malta trees. Encouraged by his unexpected success, he has taken another 5 bighas on sharecrop this year to grow the orange.

Farooq Hossain, who came to the orchard to buy oranges, said: "The size, taste and colour of the oranges from Rafiqul Islam's orchard are like those from Darjeeling or other countries. These are even better than foreign oranges. We make more profit taking oranges from here. No chemicals are needed to keep the fruit fresh. I send the oranges from here to Dhaka and Chattogram."

Rafiqul Islam told Jagonews: "Three years ago I brought orange saplings from India at Tk 200 each and malta saplings at Tk 140 each. Over the last three years I have spent about Tk 3 lakh on saplings, planting and fencing. This year the trees fruited for the first time and I sold the crop. I am selling at Tk 120 a kg. So far I have sold oranges and malta worth Tk 7.5 lakh, and there are still Tk 2 lakh worth of oranges on the trees. I have also sold about Tk 5 lakh worth of grafted saplings."

On caring for the orchard, he said: "An orange orchard does not take much hard work, but you have to fence the land well all round. A tree reaches full bearing after five years, and each tree will give good fruit for 12–15 years. The trees need irrigation in dry spells and the weeds must be kept clear. When the trees fruit, you have to keep a closer watch if bumblebees, flies and other insects increase."

Maheshpur upazila agriculture officer Md Hasan Ali and agricultural extension officer Amit Bagchi said: "The oranges Rafiqul grows taste good. We are trying to expand this promising cultivation. Many people are already showing interest in growing oranges. We are trying to help them as much as we can and are in regular contact with them."

Dr Alhaj Uddin Ahammed, director of the training wing of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said: "The oranges from Rafiqul's orchard are very tasty and nutritious, and comparatively large. Each tree has also borne a lot of fruit. If this orange can be spread commercially, the country's farmers will benefit economically, and it will play a big part in meeting nutritional needs."

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