Ramgarh (Khagrachhari) Correspondent :
Jackfruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh. As the soil and climate are suitable for cultivation, jackfruit is cultivated in all parts of the country. This fruit is more nutritious and is almost everyone’s favorite. The people of our country can eat this fruit in summer only for two months of the year in Jyeshtha and Ashar. Because that’s when the jackfruit ripens. However, the good news for jackfruit lovers is that the fruit can be eaten baromasai by planting a foreign variety of jackfruit called Vietnamese Super Early Jackfruit. Nader Khan, owner of Halda Valley and Ramgarh Tea Garden in Fatikchhari, has opened the door for the possibility of cultivating this special variety of jackfruit which bears fruit twice a year in the climate and soil of Bangladesh. Jackfruit harvesting started in 2019, the year after planting seedlings imported from Vietnam. 200 saplings were planted in uncultivated land in MD Bungalow area of Ramgarh Tea Garden.
In the year following planting, the stems, branches and twigs of medium sized trees bear jackfruit. As soon as the jackfruit ripens, the shoots start coming back to the tree. As a result, the tree bears fruit for twelve months. 10-15 feet high Super Early Jackfruit trees bear fruit from the base of the trunk to the entire branch. The maximum weight of each jackfruit is 3 to 3 kg. Sweet, khwaja means, koya is relatively hard or crispy. It takes 120-150 days for the jackfruit to ripen. Plant lover Nader Khan, owner of Haldavali and Ramgarh tea gardens in Fatikchhari, said he imported a total of 1,600 Super Early Jackfruit saplings in 2019. 200 trees were planted in Ramgarh tea garden and 1400 trees in Haldavali tea garden and other places. Some trees are destroyed. Most have survived and are bearing fruit. Foreign Baromasi is very excited to see the expected yield of jackfruit in the country. He said that he has taken initiative to produce saplings through grafting to create new gardens. The garden has been visited and it has been seen that there are bunches of jackfruits in the ground at the base of 10-12 feet long trees planted in rows. The trees have been tied with bamboo poles so that the trees do not break under the weight of the fruit. Irrigation and fertilizer are given regularly.
The Manager of the tea garden, Md. Joynal Abedin said that the jackfruit orchard is taken care of all the time. He said that about 8000 grafting or joint pens are being produced by bringing experienced people and collecting sion from mother tree. Meanwhile, a delegation of agricultural scientists led by Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Firoz, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Hathazari Regional Agricultural Research Center, Chittagong, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), visited the Super Early Jackfruit Garden at Ramgarh Tea Garden on Monday. They observe and examine the trees and fruits intimately and collect the necessary information and data. At the end of the observation, Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Firoz said, “If you did not see it with your eyes, you would not believe that there are so many jackfruits on the trunks, branches and twigs of small trees.” Every tree has all kinds of jackfruit, immature, ripe jackfruit. This is really unimaginable. “Dr. Firoz, a senior agricultural scientist who invented Bari Jackfruit-2 and Bari Jackfruit-3 in Bangladesh, further said that in general, Khwaja, Adarsa and Gala varieties of jackfruit are grown in Bangladesh. However, Bari Jackfruit-1, 2 and Bari Jackfruit-3 varieties have been developed by the Agricultural Research Institute as improved yielding varieties.
Although many researches have been done for the development of Baromasi jackfruit variety, it has not been completely successful. Besides, there is no family size, i.e. medium size jackfruit variety in our country. Super Early Jackfruit on the one hand, Baromasi and family size. Our soil and climate is also very suitable for this jackfruit cultivation is also proved here. He said that the scientists engaged in the research of Barry’s jackfruit have started research on Super Early jackfruit.
If all goes well, Bari will soon officially release the Super Early variety Bari Kathal-4. Through this, the cultivation of this special variety of jackfruit will spread all over Bangladesh. The people of the country will be able to eat jackfruit every month. And Nader Khan, a plant lover, will be in charge of this.
