Isahak Munshi of Kuakata in Patuakhali saw mango orchards while on a Tabligh trip and took a fancy to them. The year after he came back, he began growing mangoes in his homestead, and has had remarkable success: he has sold more than about a lakh taka of mangoes from one tree alone. His hobby garden now meets the mango demand of his whole area, and his fruit has become known across the upazila as "Kuakata's mangoes".

Sweet, pesticide-free and of a local variety, the mangoes from that tree sell at Tk 100-200 a kg, and he has had about 40 maunds from it. Besides that tree, he has planted more than 200 mango trees on 3-4 acres around his house, including Fazli, Langra, Ashwina, Himsagar, Lokna, Kiujai, Banana Mango and other varieties, which sell wholesale at Tk 40-200 a kg. Anyone in the area can take mangoes as they need.

In 2009, Isahak Munshi went to Rajshahi on Tabligh and saw the orchards there. The following year he brought 50 mango saplings from Rajshahi and planted them in his homestead. Seeing a good harvest, he expanded into an orchard, and production and local demand for his mangoes have grown every year. He now hopes to sell Tk 5-6 lakh of mangoes a year.

Neighbour Md Ilias Hossain said: "We no longer have to wait for mangoes from the north. Enough mangoes are grown here now, and we buy what we need from these orchards."

Kuakata farmer A Kuddus said: "We know Isahak Munshi's mangoes as Kuakata's mangoes. He has sold about 35-38 maunds from one tree. No one else here has managed that."

Md Kamrul Islam, a visitor to Kuakata, said: "I am in charge of the drug administration in Patuakhali and come to Kuakata for work and travel. I have heard about this orchard for a long time. For the people here it is a second Rajshahi. I bought mangoes to eat and I am taking some with me. It adds something new to a Kuakata trip."

Isahak Munshi told Jagonews24: "I have already sold more than Tk 1 lakh from one tree in my yard, and I can sell another Tk 10,000-20,000 from what is left. It is an old tree, but I have planted about 200 trees of 10-12 varieties around the house. Many people come to see them now. They take photos, take mangoes away and phone asking me to send them by courier."

He said: "There are many farmers like me in Kuakata and nearby. We have done well with mangoes, but we get little help or advice from the agriculture office. If the government paid us some attention, I hope we could meet the whole area's demand."

Kalapara Upazila Agriculture Officer Arafat Hossain said: "We have visited Isahak Munshi's orchard, and he can be called a successful farmer. Mango farming in Kalapara has changed over the past 4-5 years, and there has been plenty of fruit this year. There are 200 orchards, large and small, on about 100 hectares. The upazila is likely to produce more than 300 metric tonnes of mangoes in total this year."

He said: "We keep an eye on all the advice and methods before a farmer starts an orchard. But there has been no provision for us to give farmers saplings or pesticides. If an allocation is made later, we will distribute them."

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