UNB, Dhaka :
Orange grove owners are seeing a bumper production as the weather has been very favourable this year with the agriculture officials expecting that its output will exceed that of the last year.
Harvesting of the locally-produced orange started in mid-November and the supply of the citrus species has already started flooding the country’s markets, including those in capital Dhaka.
Orange cultivation has a bright prospect in Bangladesh as the fruit is now being cultivated commercially in many districts after the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) encouraged its farming along orchards and homesteads over the last several years.
Thousands of farmers are now involved in the farming of the citrus species of fruit mainly due to its cost-effectiveness.
According to the DAE records, Bandarban district brought about 2,000 hectares of land under orange cultivation in 2014 and it increased to 2,060 hectares in 2015.
“We produced 24,492 tonnes of orange last year. And we expect that we’ ll be able to produce over 24,800 tonnes this year,” said DAE deputy director (Bandarban) Altaf Hossain.
Orange production will
go up in the coming years, he said, the DAE has taken projects to motivate farmers to grow orange and giving support to them and that is why they are now showing interest to produce orange.
In Khagrachhari, about 358 hectares of land was brought under orange cultivation in the 2014-15 fiscal while around 1,883 tonnes of orange was produced last year.
Abdul Hye, deputy assistant agriculture officer of Khagrachari, said orange orchids were affected by a disease last year in Khagrachhari, so farmers did not show interest to expend its cultivation this year. “But we expect the status quo in its production,” he added.
Orange output in Rangamati this year will exceed that of the previous year, said sources at DAE Rangamati office. About 760 hectares of land was covered by orange cultivation this year and the DAE is expecting a harvest over 8,000 tonnes. In Panchagarh, orange cultivation covers 223 orchards on 100 hectares of land as well as homesteads in four upazilas of the district. A total of 100 tonnes of orange is expected to be produced in the district this year.
About 184 hectares of land has been brought under orange cultivation this year in Moulvibazar district and about 225 tonnes of orange is expected to be produced in the district against the last year’s output of 220 tonnes.
Sunirmal Paul, an agriculture officer at Moulvibazar, said orange is being cultivated in the district in scattered way, so its production is less compared to other orange producing districts.
According to records kept at the DAE, around 4,321 hectares of land were brought to orange cultivation across the country in fiscal 2013-14 while 38,309 tonnes of orange was produced in that fiscal.
Orange grove owners are seeing a bumper production as the weather has been very favourable this year with the agriculture officials expecting that its output will exceed that of the last year.
Harvesting of the locally-produced orange started in mid-November and the supply of the citrus species has already started flooding the country’s markets, including those in capital Dhaka.
Orange cultivation has a bright prospect in Bangladesh as the fruit is now being cultivated commercially in many districts after the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) encouraged its farming along orchards and homesteads over the last several years.
Thousands of farmers are now involved in the farming of the citrus species of fruit mainly due to its cost-effectiveness.
According to the DAE records, Bandarban district brought about 2,000 hectares of land under orange cultivation in 2014 and it increased to 2,060 hectares in 2015.
“We produced 24,492 tonnes of orange last year. And we expect that we’ ll be able to produce over 24,800 tonnes this year,” said DAE deputy director (Bandarban) Altaf Hossain.
Orange production will
go up in the coming years, he said, the DAE has taken projects to motivate farmers to grow orange and giving support to them and that is why they are now showing interest to produce orange.
In Khagrachhari, about 358 hectares of land was brought under orange cultivation in the 2014-15 fiscal while around 1,883 tonnes of orange was produced last year.
Abdul Hye, deputy assistant agriculture officer of Khagrachari, said orange orchids were affected by a disease last year in Khagrachhari, so farmers did not show interest to expend its cultivation this year. “But we expect the status quo in its production,” he added.
Orange output in Rangamati this year will exceed that of the previous year, said sources at DAE Rangamati office. About 760 hectares of land was covered by orange cultivation this year and the DAE is expecting a harvest over 8,000 tonnes. In Panchagarh, orange cultivation covers 223 orchards on 100 hectares of land as well as homesteads in four upazilas of the district. A total of 100 tonnes of orange is expected to be produced in the district this year.
About 184 hectares of land has been brought under orange cultivation this year in Moulvibazar district and about 225 tonnes of orange is expected to be produced in the district against the last year’s output of 220 tonnes.
Sunirmal Paul, an agriculture officer at Moulvibazar, said orange is being cultivated in the district in scattered way, so its production is less compared to other orange producing districts.
According to records kept at the DAE, around 4,321 hectares of land were brought to orange cultivation across the country in fiscal 2013-14 while 38,309 tonnes of orange was produced in that fiscal.
