Ten years ago, Murshed Mia and his wife Swapna Begum tried their luck farming mandarins in Moulvibazar’s Juri district. After finding out how chemical-tainted fruits pose threat to human health, Murshed and Swapna decided to grow fruits following only organic methods. Their profit from the first harvest was one of the success stories in the area and many others followed suit.
With that objective in mind, they contacted local office of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE). From there they collected a variety called “Mandarin Bari” and planted 800 of the saplings on five acres of land in Lalchhara village. Their investment over the years reached to around Tk 50,000.
Murshed said this harvest season, he already sold 12,000-13,000 mandarins to wholesalers for Tk 1,30,000 and he plans on planting another 300 saplings of the fruit tree on an additional three acres of land.
It is reported that, inspired by his success, at least a hundred others are now growing mandarin on the Juri district hilltops.
[ Tk 100 = €1.10 ]
