Jasmine Ara's passion is planting trees, a love she took from her father. From a very young age she watched him plant trees of many species around the homestead, and he built a mango orchard. Jasmine dreamed that one day she would build a large garden of her own. Through her own labour and effort that dream has come true: she has built what the report calls the country's largest nursery, and the successful woman entrepreneur is now an idol for many.

The nursery, named Adhunik Nursery and Horticulture Farm, stands in the Kashiarchar area of Gauripur upazila in Mymensingh, on the bank of the Old Brahmaputra. Spread over 12 acres, it holds forest tree seedlings as well as improved local and foreign varieties of mango, jam, jackfruit, guava, pomegranate, orange, amra, lemon, pomelo, sapodilla, malta, jujube, carambola, sweet tamarind, chalta, lychee, wood apple and latkan. It currently has more than 4 lakh high-quality seedlings of 300 species, which are sold across the country.

The nursery was set up in 2019. Thirty-five workers, 21 of them regular, now earn their living there, tending the plants and lifting and selling seedlings under Jasmine's constant direction.

Workers including Monir, Nazma and Aziz said they used to earn money working in various places. When Jasmine Ara set up the nursery they contacted her and took jobs there. They are paid Tk 500 a day, and with work close to home their households are running well.

Jasmine Ara, director of the farm, told Jagonews: "My father looked after trees with great tenderness. Seeing his love for them I dreamed of making a garden one day. After my marriage I told my husband about the dream, and he always encouraged me. On his advice I started the nursery five years ago. As the number of buyers grew, I began to make a profit."

"I sell seedlings of various improved varieties that give higher yields. Local people and people from different parts of the country come to buy them. Many who run nurseries come for advice, and unemployed young people are also trying to become self-reliant by setting up nurseries with improved seedlings," she said.

"For building the country's largest nursery I received a certificate, a crest and cash from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which encouraged me further. Besides being a housewife, I spend the whole day at the nursery trying to achieve more," Jasmine added.

Her husband, Dr Shamsul Alam Mithu, is a senior scientific officer in the horticulture division of the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) in Mymensingh. "I have always given encouragement and advice to make my wife's dream come true. Jasmine Ara has given a lot of time to the nursery while running the household. She goes there sometimes on foot, sometimes by van or rickshaw. The nursery survives because of her strong morale and willpower," he said.

Sheikh Md Nazmul Huda, director of the Department of Environment's Mymensingh divisional office, said: "Everyone across the country must be encouraged to plant many trees and set up nurseries, because we live by breathing the oxygen trees produce. We hope many more people like Jasmine Ara will become successful entrepreneurs."

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