Intensive care and modern farming methods have brought a bumper orange crop this year to the mixed fruit orchard of Sarowar Hossain Babu, a successful grower of foreign fruits in Rajbari, and his two brothers. Each orange tree in the orchard has borne more than 20 kg of fruit on average. Because the fruit is free of chemicals and tasty, it does not need to go to market: visitors and buyers buy it straight from the orchard at Tk 200 a kg, and the brothers are earning several times what they spend.

Sarowar Hossain also produces his own orange, malta and grape seedlings, which entrepreneurs from the district and elsewhere in the country take to plant orchards. Visitors and buyers say they buy from the orchard because the fruit is completely chemical-free and tasty, and the orchard is also beautiful to look at.

In 2020, the three sons of the late Anwar Hossain Biswas of Charbagmara in Ramkantapur union of Rajbari Sadar upazila began growing oranges, malta, grapes, guava and other fruits on 10 acres of unprofitable ancestral land. They began harvesting a year after planting. The orchard now has about 500 fruit trees, including about 300 orange trees of the China and Darjeeling varieties. The owners and visitors are pleased with the colour and juice of the oranges, and many people come from far away every day to see the orchard.

In late 2020, during the coronavirus period, looking for an alternative source of income, Sarowar Hossain Babu and his brothers watched YouTube, collected seedlings from Jibannagar in Chuadanga and planted several varieties of orange and malta on unprofitable land beside their home. They also grow dragon fruit, guava and 13 foreign varieties of grape.

Visitor and buyer Mita Nur said: "This orchard is next to our house, so I often come here to walk and buy fruit. You get completely chemical-free fruit here. Many people come from far away to buy. I've eaten fruit from here before and it's very tasty. Now when I need fruit I come straight to the orchard."

Kazi Jahangir said: "Most of the fruit we usually buy at the market has formalin in it, and eating it causes all kinds of illness. To stay healthy I buy fruit from this orchard at Tk 200 a kg. No chemicals are used on the fruit here. It's completely natural and causes no problems. I took 5 kg of oranges before and I've come back for 10 kg: 5 kg for a relative's house and 5 kg for us. If I hadn't seen the orchard, I wouldn't have known foreign fruit varieties grow well in our soil too."

Orchard owner Azizur Rahman Biswas said: "We used to grow other crops on this land but didn't profit much. Five years ago the three of us brothers cleared it and planted a mixed fruit orchard. We've been picking fruit for four years, and this year the yield is very high. We have China and Darjeeling oranges, which are very tasty and juicy, so we don't need to take them to market. Everything sells from the orchard, mostly to visitors. A fruit orchard is far more profitable than other crops, and costs less. We will expand the orchard in future."

Owner and lead entrepreneur Sarowar Hossain Babu said: "I was inspired by videos to start the orchard in 2020. The orchard is five years old, but we have been harvesting fruit for four years. The fruit is beautiful and tasty, and no spray or medicine is used. Every afternoon many people come from far away to see the orchard and buy fruit. If everyone grew fruit like this, we wouldn't need imports. This year each orange tree has borne more than 20 kg on average."

He said: "Our aim is to put chemical-free fruit in people's hands. We use no poison on any fruit in the orchard. There are more than 450 trees, including oranges, malta, guava and dragon fruit along with foreign grapes. We are now producing orange, malta and grape seedlings. Many people have come from various places, taken seedlings and planted orchards, and I help them with advice and on-site visits. I want everyone to grow chemical-free fruit, which will reduce the dependence on imports."

Rajbari Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Jony Khan said: "Mixed fruit orchards are increasing day by day in Rajbari. There are several large entrepreneurs, among whom the mixed orchard of Sarowar Babu and his brothers at Char Bagmara is notable. If new farmers take up fruit growing, unemployment will fall and the demand for fruit nutrition will be met. Sadar upazila has 15 mixed fruit orchards, and oranges and malta are now being harvested from almost all of them. Many people are becoming interested in planting orchards after seeing Sarowar Babu's."

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