National Desk :
An educated young man has changed his life by cultivating Litchi in Jamalpur Sadar Upazila.
Within a period of 10 years, he is expecting earning of Tk four lakh from his Lichi orchard this year.
Md Abdus Selim at village Kanil in Ranagachha Union in Jamalpur Sadar Upazila set up the Litchi orchard on one acre of land in 2010. After completing his higher education from AM College in Mymenshing, he chose to be a farmer instead of searching job.
Accordingly, he started Litchi farming on his paternal land with a small capital of Tk 40,000 in 2010. He took one acre of land from his father Abdul Kader.
Before farming, he got training from Youth Development Department on Litchi cultivation. Besides, he also took advice from the experts of Horticulture Department on Litchi farming.
Subsequently, he brought 120 saplings of Litchi from Dinajpur district. The sapling of BARI-4 variety after three years bore fruits. He first sold the Litchui at Tk 28,000. The next year, he sold Litchi at Tk 50,000. Gradually, his fortune favoured him. This year, he sold Litchi at Tk four lakh.
Selim said from the very beginning, he never used chemical pesticide in his Litchi field as it is harmful for human body.
He said pesticide-free Litchi has a great demand in local market.
He also said, “As BARI-4 variety Litchi is delicious and have attractive colour, I got fair price of it as 100 Litchi is being sold at Tk 600 to 700.”
He already created a market of his poisonous free mouth-watering fruit among the society. Chief Scientific Officer of Jamalpur Regional Agriculture Research Station, Dr Manjurul Kadir said BARI-4 variety Litchi was approved for cultivation in 2008. He said BARI-4 is a high yielding variety and a tree can bear 5000 Litchi.
