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What workedA schoolteacher and papaya grower in Kumarkhali, Kushtia, in a Prothom Alo report · Started in 2025

1.5 lakh taka on three bighas of papaya, 1.7 lakh sold in the first two months

Alongside his school job he planted 1,200 seedlings on three bighas in 2025 at a cost of 150,000 taka. Flowering came at four months and fruit at five; the first two months of picking sold 210 maunds for 170,000 taka, covering his costs.

This 46-year-old assistant schoolteacher from Darbeshpur village in Kumarkhali, Kushtia, went into commercial papaya in early 2025 with the Manikganj Shahi variety, spending 150,000 taka on three bighas. He planted 1,200 seedlings, 400 to the bigha; the plants flowered at four months and were ready to pick at five. The first two months of picking sold 210 maunds at 20 to 65 taka a kilo for about 170,000 taka, which already covered the season's costs. He expects another 400 maunds over the next five months plus about 80 kg of seed that sells at 7,000 taka a kilo, for roughly 10 lakh taka of sales and about 8.5 lakh net; those later figures are his expectation, not completed sales. On his own reckoning each plant costs 150-200 taka and yields 60 to 150 kg of fruit.

Lessons

  1. 1.Papaya pays back inside one season: the first two months of picking covered the costs, unlike tree fruits that take years
  2. 2.Saving and selling seed opens a second income line: at 7,000 taka a kilo it is a large share of the expected total

Published with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.

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