About two years ago Md Kamal Hossain, a 60-year-old farmer of Rasulpur village in Latachapli union, Kuakata, watched papaya-growing videos on YouTube and planted 30 trees for the pleasure of it on unused ground in his yard. The orchard now holds more than 150 trees and brings him an average of Tk 40,000-45,000 a month.

He never thought of it as a business at first, he said; once the trees did well he realised papaya could grow even on the area's saline soil and kept adding plants. Fruit sells almost every day to tourists and in the local market — Tk 2,000 on some days, Tk 3,000-4,000 on others. Because the orchard stands beside the road from Rasulpur to the Rakhine village of Misripara, many visitors to Kuakata stop their cars and buy papaya straight from the tree, sparing him the trouble of transport and marketing. His son said the whole family now helps with picking, tending and selling, and that neighbours who thought salinity ruled out most crops now ask how he does it, what saplings he planted and what it cost.

Neighbour Rahim Musulli said he had never seen a yard papaya patch earn like this, and that others nearby are now thinking of planting their own. A couple visiting from Mohakhali in Dhaka said buying tree-ripened fruit directly from the grower was a different experience from a shop. Ruman Imtiaz Tushar, president of the Tour Operators Association of Kuakata (TOAK), said visitors increasingly want to see local life and farming as well as the beach, and ventures like this link agriculture and tourism: the farmer sells direct and the tourist buys fresh local produce.

Arafat Hossain, Kalapara upazila agriculture officer, said salinity is the coast's big challenge and many farmers will not risk a new crop, but with the right variety, soil and water management, organic manure and regular care, crops can be grown even in adverse conditions; Kamal Hossain's orchard could inspire others, though any expansion must weigh soil salinity, irrigation water quality and disease management.

From a Banglavision report by its Kuakata correspondent. Source: Banglavision