This year's National Tree Fair has begun. Organised by the Bangladesh Forest Department, the fair opened on Wednesday, 25 June, on the ground next to the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. Under the slogan "Let us plan afforestation, build a green Bangladesh", a thousand diverse species of plants have come to the fair.

Alongside flowering and fruit trees, various medicinal and timber trees are available. Sellers said fruit saplings include local species such as mango, jam, lychee, jackfruit, pineapple, jamrul, amloki, guava, ata and sharifa, as well as foreign species such as apple, grape and orange.

Flower saplings on sale range from rajanigandha to local and foreign roses, shiuli, marigold, jui, hasnahena and cactus. Timber trees include teak, mahogany, sal, koroi, shimul and garjan.

Sellers said plants at the fair range in price from Tk 20 to Tk 7 lakh. They include bonsai, priced from Tk 2,000 to Tk 7 lakh. Plant lovers are searching out and buying the trees they like.

Asadul, a salesman at Khan Nursery, told Jago News that as the fair had only opened that day, buyer numbers had not yet picked up. Indoor plants are now in higher demand, he said, and young men and women buy them to decorate their homes. Many environmental organisations also buy plants, he said, and some people in Dhaka who keep rooftop gardens buy plants worth from 50 to a lakh taka.

Saleha Begum, who came from Mirpur, told Jago News: "I have bought five plants for my balcony and taken some indoor plants. The fair has only just started; I will come back and buy more."

Hamidul Islam of Upokor Nursery said they had everything from vegetables to all kinds of indoor plants, with indoor plants priced from Tk 500 to Tk 2,500. Many women come and buy only vegetable and medicinal plants, he said.

Forest Department range officer Anwar Hossain told Jago News that the fair has 135 tree stalls and 15 environment stalls, open every day from 9am to 9pm. The environment fair will run from 25 to 27 June, and the tree fair from 25 June to 24 July, he said.

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