Desk Report,
Raihan, who started with one, now has 16 fruit orchards, with an annual income of Tk 5 million.
Commercial mango cultivation did not start on a large scale in Porsha and Sapahar upazilas of Naogaon until 2004-05. At that time, paddy, wheat and mustard were cultivated in the vast fields of those areas known as high Barendrabhumi. Despite not having much support from his family at that time, Raihan Alam (42), a higher secondary student, decided to start a mango garden on his cropland.
Raihan, who started with one, now has 16 fruit orchards, with an annual income of Tk 5 million.
He invested one lakh taka from selling paddy and cattle and planted mango seedlings across his eight bighas of land. In two years, he earned three lakh taka from selling mangoes. As his capital increased every year, Raihan also increased the size of his garden. Now, Raihan has 16 small and large fruit gardens spread over about 200 bighas of land. His annual income from the garden is more than five lakh taka.
Raihan’s village is in Doash village of Sapahar upazila. He was born into a middle-class farming family. He is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters. After obtaining higher education, he chose agriculture as his field of pursuit instead of chasing a job. He is currently a successful agricultural entrepreneur. Many young people in the area have followed him and have established mango orchards. They are also seeing the face of success. In addition to his own village Doash, the orchards spread over 200 bighas of land are in different areas of Sapahar, Patnitala and Porsha upazilas. In addition to mangoes, Raihan cultivates dragon fruit and guava. 20-25 people regularly work in his orchard.
Recently, we spoke to Raihan Alam at the mixed fruit orchard established in Bandhupara area of Porsha upazila. While showing around the mixed fruit orchard of mango and dragon fruit, he said, “My father died suddenly in 2003. At that time, I was in the first year of higher secondary school. Being the eldest child in the family, the entire responsibility of the family fell on my shoulders. I had to struggle to support a family of six by cultivating rice on my own small land. Then I started thinking about how to increase the family’s income. After researching, I found out that mango farming is quite profitable. I decided to establish a mango orchard on rice land. None of my family and neighbors supported me in my proposal to establish an orchard at that time. “I sold my rice and cows and invested one lakh taka in capital, bought 2,000 seedlings of Amrapali, Langra, Mallika, Subarnarekha and Fazli from a nursery in the Saraigachi area of Porsha and planted them on my 8 bighas of land.”
