M.A. Awal, Narsingdi :
Rafiz Uddin, a farmer of Monohordi in Narsingdi waits for the auspicious day of plucking Saudi dates from trees planted in his garden. He dreams to earn Tk 30 lakh in a year from his garden.
Rafiz Uddin went to Saudi Arabia but came back home in 2010 after 6 years. He started cultivating date. He brought four varieties of original seeds from there. He sowed those on a piece of 2-bigha of land and hoped to earn a good amount of money in each year. With this aspiration he started cultivating those dates one and a half years ago. The varieties are: Khalacha, Sejri, Nakhal and Bokri. Now trees have grown up to 2-3 feet long.
“While working in the gardens there (Saudi Arabia), I thought that the land of our country was more fertile than that of Saudia Arabia and these dates would grow fast in Bangladesh,” he said. “Now I can earn 500 taka to 1000 taka by selling the date saplings,” Rafiz uddin said. While talking to this Correspondent, Rafiz uddin said, “A mature date tree can produce about 300 kg dates in a year. As date cultivation is not popular in our country, I found it profitable. That is why I decided to cultivate dates. If everything goes well I can earn more within 2 years by cultivating dates what I could not earn in abroad for 6 years.” By observing Rafiz uddin, local farmers get encouraged in cultivating dates. Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) also finds date cultivation profitable and be a good source of income for our country’s farmers. Kazi Shafiqul Islam, Upazila Agricultural Officer, said, ” Rafiz uddin’s initiative to cultivate date is really praiseworthy. If we can cultivate date with proper care, we will be successful to fulfill the demand of date in our country within five years.”
He also said that Rafiz uddin had already 15,000 date saplings in his garden. If the saplings can be distributed all over the country, thousands of farmers will be benefited. Latafat Hossain, Deputy Managing Director of DAE in Narsingdi, said, “We will take steps to spread the Rafiz uddin’s initiative across the country to open a new vista in earning a lot of money from this sector.
Rafiz Uddin, a farmer of Monohordi in Narsingdi waits for the auspicious day of plucking Saudi dates from trees planted in his garden. He dreams to earn Tk 30 lakh in a year from his garden.
Rafiz Uddin went to Saudi Arabia but came back home in 2010 after 6 years. He started cultivating date. He brought four varieties of original seeds from there. He sowed those on a piece of 2-bigha of land and hoped to earn a good amount of money in each year. With this aspiration he started cultivating those dates one and a half years ago. The varieties are: Khalacha, Sejri, Nakhal and Bokri. Now trees have grown up to 2-3 feet long.
“While working in the gardens there (Saudi Arabia), I thought that the land of our country was more fertile than that of Saudia Arabia and these dates would grow fast in Bangladesh,” he said. “Now I can earn 500 taka to 1000 taka by selling the date saplings,” Rafiz uddin said. While talking to this Correspondent, Rafiz uddin said, “A mature date tree can produce about 300 kg dates in a year. As date cultivation is not popular in our country, I found it profitable. That is why I decided to cultivate dates. If everything goes well I can earn more within 2 years by cultivating dates what I could not earn in abroad for 6 years.” By observing Rafiz uddin, local farmers get encouraged in cultivating dates. Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) also finds date cultivation profitable and be a good source of income for our country’s farmers. Kazi Shafiqul Islam, Upazila Agricultural Officer, said, ” Rafiz uddin’s initiative to cultivate date is really praiseworthy. If we can cultivate date with proper care, we will be successful to fulfill the demand of date in our country within five years.”
He also said that Rafiz uddin had already 15,000 date saplings in his garden. If the saplings can be distributed all over the country, thousands of farmers will be benefited. Latafat Hossain, Deputy Managing Director of DAE in Narsingdi, said, “We will take steps to spread the Rafiz uddin’s initiative across the country to open a new vista in earning a lot of money from this sector.
