As every year, the month-long National Tree Fair 2023 has begun at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital. This year's theme is "Let us plant trees and care for them, and build a country of healthy generations". Everything at the fair has been arranged in a natural setting, turning the grounds into something like a new recreation centre, and people from all walks of life are thronging it.

The first phase of the fair ran from 5 June to 26 June. The second phase began on 1 July after Eid-ul-Azha and will end on 12 July.

From the opening day, 5 June, to 8 July, a total of 20,59,745 saplings of various kinds were sold, worth Tk 14,69,67,083. Indoor plants and rooftop garden plants are in greatest demand. Orchid and cactus saplings are comparatively expensive, while mango saplings are cheap. The fair is open daily from 9am to 8pm.

Samiul Shahin came to the fair from Shewrapara in Mirpur with his wife and young daughter, to stroll around on a late afternoon and buy some plants. His wife, Nusrat Shahin, told Jagonews they would buy various fruit trees, especially mango and amla, for their rooftop garden, and some bonsai-type plants to decorate the house.

The stalls are lined with rows of timber, fruit, vegetable and medicinal saplings of many local and foreign species, along with familiar and unfamiliar flowering and fruit plants, bonsai and cacti. Plant lovers of all ages visit every day to buy what they like. Saplings range from Tk 50 mango saplings to bonsai-type plants priced at Tk 10 lakh.

At the "Living Art Bonsai" stall, buyers and visitors crowd around various bonsai, with a mango bonsai drawing the most interest. Bonsai priced at up to Tk 13 lakh have been brought to the fair. The mango bonsai priced at Tk 13 lakh is 40 years old, though the highest offer from buyers is reported to be Tk 8 lakh. A local banyan bonsai is selling for Tk 3 lakh, and sundari and tamarind bonsai for Tk 1.5 lakh and Tk 1 lakh. There are also African baobab, hijal, tamal and other bonsai.

The plants on offer include hibiscus, mandevilla, hasnahena, palash, kanakchampa, basanti, malati, periwinkle, mango, custard apple, kul, jujube, pomegranate, karamcha, wood apple, pomelo, jackfruit, red jackfruit, cham jackfruit, fig, cashew, durian, olive, kau, peach, kiwi, avocado, allamanda, dracaena, cherry, persimmon, dragon fruit, tang fruit, apricot, ada jamir, strawberry guava, bilati gab, rambutan, nutmeg, white pear, rababa, mulberry, loquat, abiu, kalojam, satkara, sapodilla, wood apple (kadbel), longan, aloe vera and latkan, among thousands of known and unknown local and foreign flowering and fruit plants. The rare nagalingam (cannonball tree) is also available.

College student Minhaj Abedin, visiting the fair, said he loves rooftop gardening in a city of brick and stone and had come for some new plants for his roof. "I am seeing many kinds of flower and fruit trees here. I will take something completely different."

Stall owners and sellers say this year's fair, after being closed for the past two years, is getting a good response from buyers and visitors.

Brajagopal Rajbangshi, assistant conservator of forests at the Forest Department, told Jagonews: "We have sold about 21 lakh saplings worth about Tk 15 crore. The fair is being held in an environment-friendly way, with no music or lighting. The whole fairground has become a recreation centre. People's interest in planting trees is growing day by day, and that is the most satisfying news."

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