A dragon fruit garden has grown up on the bank of the Nabaganga river in Islampur village of Mauli union in Kalia upazila, Narail. The Mokchhed Molla and Mohuron Nesa Agro Dragon Garden has been built on 23 acres of land within a brick kiln site. It has 56,000 dragon fruit plants on 13,650 pillars.

A visit to the site found Red Velvet, American Beauty, Israel Yellow, Vietnam Red, Vietnam White and Palora varieties. Dragon fruit farming began in January 2022 with 7,000 saplings on 1,700 pillars on 2.5 acres.

Morfudul Hasan Palash, a teacher at Munshi Manik Mia Degree College, said: "The farming started first with the help of two brothers. But the start was not good. Neighbours used to say, 'What have you planted? What will come of this?' Later, with new energy, we six brothers pulled down the brick kiln in January 2023 and built a dragon fruit garden on 23 acres. Twenty workers are employed here."

Garden worker Suman Molla said: "It is very easy to set up a garden. It is not very hard work. You always have to make sure insects and diseases do not cause damage. People come from far away to see this garden, the biggest in the district. They are becoming interested in dragon fruit farming, and many are buying saplings."

Morfudul Hasan Palash said: "As a teacher, I could not accept the harm the brick kiln would do to the environment. Then, with the help of the agriculture department, I built the dragon fruit garden. This year we have already sold Tk 16 lakh worth of fruit. I hope it will grow several times over in future. Many people are taking saplings and making small gardens."

"We grow this fruit naturally, without medicines or chemicals. Fertiliser has to be applied once or twice a year. Fruit can be harvested continuously from March to December. Depending on size, the fruit sells wholesale for Tk 150-280 a kg. We sell at Kalia bazar, Lohagara, Narail Sadar and Jashore Sadar," he said.

Upazila sub-assistant agriculture officer Firoz Mahamud said: "We give the necessary advice from the agriculture office. The garden starts bearing fruit in a short time, so it is profitable. If anyone new wants to farm it, we will give every kind of support."

Dipak Kumar Roy, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Narail, said: "The district has 13 dragon fruit gardens, large and small, on 36 acres. The teacher's noble initiative of pulling down a brick kiln for the sake of the environment deserves praise. The agriculture department is giving every kind of support and will continue to do so."

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