Mirajul Islam's Dragon Fruit Garden

About

Mirajul Islam (33), of Indurkani village in Indurkani upazila, Pirojpur, worked for 10 years as a labourer in Saudi Arabia and came home empty-handed in 2019 because of residence-permit (akama) problems. After watching dragon fruit videos on YouTube, he took money from his father and in December 2020 started a dragon fruit garden on 1.5 acres of fallow land in Togra village, bringing 600 seedlings from Gazipur at Tk 60 each. The garden cost Tk 6–7 lakh, which fruit sales have already paid back. It now has 3,500 dragon fruit plants, harvested six or seven times a year from May to November. In one picking he gathered 1.5 tonnes and sold it to wholesalers from Dhaka and Chattogram at Tk 250 per kg, and he expects a profit of Tk 8–9 lakh for the year. He raises seedlings himself from healthy cuttings and has sold 1,500 of them at Tk 40 each; many people have started home and rooftop gardens with them. He also grows chui jhal, cardamom, china lemon and seasonal vegetables in the garden. The upazila agriculture officer says his is the largest garden in the upazila.

Products and services

• Dragon fruit

  Tk 250 / kg

  Sold to wholesalers from Dhaka and Chattogram

• Dragon fruit seedlings

  Tk 40 / each

  Raised from healthy cuttings in his own garden

• Chui jhal

• Cardamom

• China lemon

• Seasonal vegetables

Prices as given by the owner; ask before you buy.

Address and hours