Lemon and papaya cultivation change Badal’s life

Desk report: The youth has become a role model in the area by cultivating vegetables commercially, reports The Dhaka Tribune.
A youth named Ashik Iqbal Badal has found huge success in cultivating papaya and lemon in Tangail’s Sakhipur upazila.
The 32-year-old has changed his fate and set an example in his neighbourhood of Pratima Banki village by cultivating vegetables commercially.
Badal hopes this year he will make a profit of Tk10 lakh from vegetable cultivation.
After passing higher secondary examinations, Badal left for abroad with the hope to contribute to his family. But he returned home due to lack of opportunities and started focusing on agriculture.
Badal initially leased four acres of land. In the first two years he made a profit of Tk2 lakh. With this money he leased five more acres of land.
“After leasing the lands, I have planted papaya on around five acres of land and lemon on four acres. So far I have spent Tk10 lakh on the lease, saplings, fertilizers, pesticides and labour costs,” Badal said.
This year, he planted around 5,000 papaya saplings. The papaya yield has been estimated to be around 50 tons, which is worth approximately Tk19 lakh.
Badal said: “If the weather is favorable, I can sell 50 tons of papaya this month.
Within a short time, I have been able to produce shahi variety of papaya and this year I hope to make a profit of Tk 10 lakh.”
The youth expresses his desire to expand his agricultural business. “It is possible to be self employed by cultivating vegetables.”
Faizul Islam Bhuiyan, agriculture officer of Sakhipur upazila, said: “Papaya is known and valued all around Bangladesh. There is a widespread demand for this nutrient-rich fruit.”
“This variety [shahi] of papaya can be grown in six months. One can get four to five maund papayas from one tree, so papaya gardens can be very beneficial. The Department of Agriculture is also encouraging people to cultivate papaya,” he said.
Due to the yield and financial benefits farmers have shown more interest in cultivating papaya, the agriculture official said, adding that the cultivation will hopefully see a further rise in future.