Latkan, once an uncommon fruit, has changed the economic picture of Kaliganj upazila in Gazipur. The fruit has gone beyond the country's borders to win markets abroad. Farmers here are becoming self-reliant through latkan, and the shame of unemployment is fading.

The agriculture office also says that because the fruit brings more profit at low cost and in a short time, local farmers' interest in growing it is rising every year.

In Baraiya village of Jangalia union in the upazila, sweet-and-sour latkan hung in bunches in the orchard of a farmer named Md Atikullah Bhuiyan. Several days of heavy rain have ripened the tasty fruit to yellow. Atikullah was busy tending the fruit, which contains vitamin C, protein and calories, and was using various methods to get rid of insects just before marketing it.

The same scene can be seen in Borogaon of Moktarpur union, Gollartek of Jamalpur union, and Nagarbhela and Senpara of Nagari union.

According to the agriculture office, farmers in various villages of Nagari, Jangalia, Jamalpur and Moktarpur unions of Kaliganj grow latkan commercially. Because it gives a good yield and more profit at low cost and in a short time, the number of growers is rising every year. Last year 114 tonnes of latkan were produced on 19 hectares in the upazila. This year the yield is expected to rise and the area to grow by at least 1 hectare. Latkan from the area is also being exported.

Mobarak Hossain, a latkan grower in his fifties from Borogaon Bhitipara village, said: "I have about 120 latkan trees in my orchard. The yield is very good this year compared with last year. Latkan grows in the shade and costs little. It needs a little water when it flowers. Local wholesalers buy orchards from growers while the fruit is still on the trees."

Md Habibullah, in his sixties, from the same village, said: "I have made a latkan orchard myself, and many around me grow the fruit too. Following the advice of upazila agriculture office officials, I have grown latkan and, Alhamdulillah, made a good profit."

Bijoy Dutta, 28, a young man from the village, said latkan can be grown in a short time with little capital, so it can easily end unemployment. "I was unemployed myself once. I ended my unemployment by growing latkan," he said.

Upazila Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer Azizur Rahman Rubel told Jagonews24 that field officials of the upazila agriculture office regularly advise latkan growers. With proper care and balanced use of fertiliser, latkan has yielded well this year, he said.

Upazila Sub-Assistant Plant Protection Officer Md Aktaruzzaman told Jagonews24 that the agriculture office continues to give every kind of support in the field, including distributing saplings and advising growers on planting, care and controlling diseases and pests.

Kaliganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Krishibid Farzana Taslim told Jagonews24 that latkan used to be grown around homesteads, but because of demand farmers now grow it commercially. Besides being exported, latkan is selling at Tk 80 to Tk 100 a kg in markets across the country and locally, depending on size. More money could be earned if the fruit could be put to more varied uses, she said.

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