The National Tree Fair 2023 is under way at the old trade fair ground next to the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Agargaon, Dhaka. After two days of downpours, the fair grounds seem to have come back to life. Fresh green plants are arranged in rows across the ground, and besides enjoying the view, some visitors are buying the plants they like.

This year's theme for the national tree planting campaign and tree fair is 'Plant trees and care for them, build a nation of healthy generations'. The first phase of the fair runs from 5 to 26 June; after Eid it will resume on 1 July and end on 12 July.

Although the fair opened on World Environment Day, 5 June, the grounds were lifeless in the intense heat. With the heatwave, few buyers and visitors came. But the last two days of rain have brought relief to Dhaka's residents and brought the fair back to life.

The organisers say sales have risen because of the rain.

Abdullah Sadek of the fair's information centre told Jago News that sales and crowds had grown after the rain. With Friday and Saturday being holidays, the crowds were different.

Hayat Uddin, who came from Mirpur, told Jago News: "Dhaka is several degrees Celsius hotter than neighbouring districts and villages. Those of us who live in Dhaka feel it when we visit our village homes. There is no alternative to planting trees to reduce the heatwave and make Dhaka liveable."

Entering through the main gate feels like stepping into another world of nature, with greenery all round. Among the green, fruit and flower plants catch visitors' eyes. When they see big fruit on small plants, visitors rush over, and many bargain and buy the plants they like.

Abdullah Sadek, the officer in charge of the information centre, said this year's fair had 122 nurseries and stalls in all, government, private, individually owned and others.

According to the information centre, government bodies taking part include the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the National Herbarium, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and the Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI).

Among the fruit, timber, medicinal and ornamental species at the fair, fruit trees are in the highest demand. Buyers' favourites include various varieties of mango, guava, sapodilla, lemon, karamcha, amra, olive and amloki.

Saheb Ali of Green Space Nursery said sales had risen after the rain. He has stocked his nursery with rare trees collected from around the country. He said the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers about 120 tree species rare and endangered, and 75 of them are available at his stall, including rare and endangered trees such as boilam and 'persian'.

Aminul Islam of Fatema Nursery said they had various park trees and decorative plants. On sales, he said buyers had increased with the rain after the intense heat, and he hoped the fair would get busier with visitors.

Alongside local seedlings, various foreign plants, known and unknown, are drawing attention. Emon of Beli Garden Nursery said his nursery had mostly foreign seedlings: a tree called Nandakmai-Simoan is selling for Tk 20,000 and Brunei King for Tk 1,000.

Foreign plants at Diploma Nursery include African cocoa chocolate at Tk 15,000, Thai pear at Tk 30,000, Philippine santhun at Tk 30,000, Japanese persimmon at Tk 20,000 and Thai Chiang Mai at Tk 40,000.

Hossain Nursery is selling various tools. Saddam Hossain of the nursery said they stock all kinds of farm tools, large and small, selling for Tk 200 to Tk 2,000.

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