100 jujube trees for Tk 60,000, earning about Tk 9 lakh a season
A migrant worker from Lohagara, Chattogram, planted 100 Bolshundori jujube trees on a pond bank as a hobby. The first-year cost was Tk 60,000, and a season's sales now bring in about Tk 9 lakh.
In late 2018 a migrant worker from Lohagara, Chattogram, came home on leave, watched YouTube videos and, as a hobby, planted 100 Bolshundori jujube saplings on the bank of the family pond. The orchard sits on discarded silt soil around a one-acre pond. The saplings came from Naogaon at Tk 35 each. Saplings, land preparation and labour cost Tk 60,000 in the first year. The trees began fruiting a year later. Early output was small and went to the family or as gifts to relatives and friends. Commercial sales began in 2022. In December and January the orchard sells an average of 2.5 maunds a day at Tk 150-170 a kg, bringing about Tk 9 lakh in a season. Because the trees stand by the pond, irrigation is easy and cheap. Buyers come to the orchard so there is no need to go to market, and nets protect the fruit from birds. One of the six brothers is always on leave to mind the orchard in season. Last year they planted 500 more saplings on 240 decimals nearby, and those are fruiting too. The upazila agriculture officer advises picking the variety that sells best in the local market.
Lessons
- 1.Idle land on a pond bank with water close by cut irrigation cost; no big land purchase was needed.
- 2.Pick the variety the local market wants most; here sweet Bolshundori jujube sells well.
- 3.When buyers come to the orchard, you save market costs and effort; protect the fruit from birds with nets.
We published this with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.
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