Avocado from Indonesia is being grown in the hills of Mirsarai in Chattogram. The yield is better this year than in other years, and the foreign fruit is being sold in the market. Orchard owner Md Omar Sharif is selling avocado at Tk 800 a kg and says he will greatly expand cultivation.

Young farm entrepreneur and tree lover Md Omar Sharif has achieved complete success growing avocado for the first time in Mirsarai and the wider Chattogram region. His trial cultivation of the foreign fruit has been a big success and has opened a new door for the country's agriculture.

Omar Sharif collected 10 avocado seedlings from Indonesia and planted them at his Johra Agro Farms and Nursery. With regular care and a favourable environment, the trees began fruiting within two years. So far he has harvested more than about 500 kg of fruit. His early success shows Bangladesh's climate suits avocado, and he hopes commercial cultivation on a larger scale will be possible within a few years.

Omar Sharif said he has planted transplantable avocado seedlings of a Mexican variety, which will help meet local demand economically. The report describes avocado as a sweet, tasty and highly nutritious fruit, whose low sugar content makes it very good for people with diabetes.

Each fruit weighs about 400 to 800 grams. The flesh is smooth like butter with a mildly sweet taste. It can be eaten raw, ripe, as a vegetable, in salads, sandwiches or on toast. The report says that, having no saturated fat, it helps protect against disease. Demand for the fruit is growing in the domestic market, so its commercial potential is large.

Omar Sharif is not limited to growing avocado. He also plans to market avocado seedlings brought from Thailand. His initiative will encourage farmers to grow the fruit and have a positive effect on the farm economy.

Besides avocado, he has successfully planted miyamota (kiwi), blueberry, blackberry, malta, lemon, orange and coffee, among many local and foreign fruit trees.

"Seeing this success with avocado, many people have been inspired to start growing it," Omar Sharif said. "If entrepreneurs spread the cultivation of foreign fruit in the country, it will help meet nutritional needs and create new sources of income for farmers. I am selling avocado at Tk 800 a kg. Most of it sells online."

Mirsarai upazila agriculture officer Pratap Chandra Roy said: "Sharif bhai is an enthusiast farm entrepreneur. He is the first in the upazila to grow avocado successfully. The fruit in his orchard is large. He has also grown peach, Thai sapodilla and various local and foreign fruits. His initiative is undoubtedly an example for young entrepreneurs."

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