Farmers in Sirajganj are making money growing guava on high and fallow land. The Department of Agricultural Extension had set a target of about 400 hectares of guava orchards across the district's nine upazilas, but growers have planted more than that; bumper harvests are reported from Raiganj, Kazipur, Belkuchi, Ullapara and Sirajganj Sadar, and orchards are spreading on the char land along the Jamuna.

The varieties grown are Thai, Kazi and BARI-1, 2 and 3, with Thai and Kazi the most common. Growers bring saplings from Rajshahi and Natore and plant five-year orchards by December each year; because there is demand all year round, hybrid varieties are cultivated through the year. The orchards do best on high, loamy and sandy soil.

Idris Ali of Subarnasara village in Belkuchi said five to seven labourers work in his orchard every day; wholesale sales have begun at Tk 40-45 a kilogram and he expects roughly double his costs back. Rezaul Karim, 50, of Dattabari village in Sadar upazila, grows Thai guava on his 10 decimals of land and has done well on both yield and price.

Growers Shahin Alam and Sobhan said the crop needs a frame of bamboo, cement posts and GI wire set about two yards apart, with the saplings planted around it; flowering and fruiting start about six months after planting, each fruit is bagged in polythene once it weighs about 10 grams to keep animals and birds off, and an orchard bears for about five years. A K M Manzure Maola, deputy director of the DAE in Sirajganj, said good yields and prices are drawing more farmers to guava, and the department is giving field-level support and advice.

Reported by Krishi Shomoy's Sirajganj correspondent. Source: Krishi Shomoy