Home ›› 20 Apr 2022 ›› Nation
Although farming mulberry is quite familiar in Bangladesh for decades as part of sericulture, the potential of the fruit is yet to be explored.
Mulberry farming is popular in the northern districts as the leaves are essential in sericulture. But harvesting the fruit to market is not popular among sericulturists as the demand for the fruit is relatively low.
This small fruit is not a part of the berry family despite being named as such. Raw mulberry is green but turns red and then black as it ripens. The fruit resembles to blackberry and raspberry.
The fruit is quite tasty and its nutritional values are high which gives it various medicinal properties. Constipation can be relieved by eating ripe mulberries. This fruit’s sour-sweet juice can be used to treat gastritis, inflammation, cough, and fever, according to herbal medicine practitioners.
The fruit is desired worldwide in jams, jellies, and drinks made from this are quite popular.
Mulberry has been cultivated for almost two decades in Shambhuganj, a suburb of Mymensingh city.
Abdur Rahman, the in-charge of the Shambhganj garden, said mulberry is cultivated on about four bighas of land under the BRAC SRC Shambhuganj branch. “The leaves are used as silkworm food, but the fruit isn’t harvested commercially even though it’s popular among the locals,” he said.
He added that commercially cultivating the fruit can be financially profitable as products processed from it are quite famous.
Several mulberry farmers in Mymensingh also echoed Rahman. Although mulberry is cultivated in about 36 districts, this potential fruit does not have much value. But commercial cultivation and products processed from mulberry can open new opportunities for the country’s economic potential.
According to farmer Sakhawat Hossain, mulberry is cultivated in Trishal and Gouripur of Mymensingh. There used to be mulberry trees along the road planted by the government but those are no longer there. Currently, only a handful of farmers garden mulberry privately.
Mulberry is normally grown via grafting branches, but saplings can also be cultivated from seeds. Mulberry blossoms bloom in January and February, while the fruit ripens in March and April.
According to sources, a tiny amount of mulberry used to be sold in Rajshahi every season, but business has been reduced due to the pandemic. This fruit usually sells for Tk 150-200 per kg.
Department of Agricultural Extension and the Bangladesh Silk Development Board sources say mulberry fruit provides extra income for the farmers while their main source of income comes from selling the leaves to sericulturists. If demand for the fruit increased it could be beneficial for the farmers.
“Mulberry is cultivated mainly for leaves in the country but the fruit is also quite tasty and nutritious,” said Md Zahirul Haque, regional officer of District Silk Extension Office, Mymensingh.
According to him, the use of this fruit in commercial farming can be financially profitable. There are about 500 farmers in the Mymensingh area who are involved in mulberry cultivation.
If the workforce is increased, and farmers are properly trained and supervised, mulberry tree cultivation possesses great potential, the official added.
