Home ›› 12 Jun 2022 ›› Nation
Two entrepreneurs in Natore have proved that it is possible to cultivate improved varieties of date palms in the weather conditions of the district.
They are pleased as their 86 cultivated Saudi Date Palm trees bear fruit earlier than expected.
Bunches of unripe dates are hanging from all the trees in both orchards in Chhatni and Dighapatia unions of Natore Sadar upazila. Even the raw dates taste sweet.
There are 80 trees in one of the orchards and 6 in the other.
Entrepreneurs expect to be able to market the dates by the first week of July. As the estimated lifespan of Saudi date trees are 40-50 years, the farmers will be able to make profits for as long.
Golam Nobi, a prominent fishmonger and agri-entrepreneur from Natore, said he collected 200 Saudi date palm saplings of about 10 species from Saudi Arabia and India in 2018.
The saplings were planted in about 6 bighas of land in the Majhdigha area of Chhatni union. He also planted the new seedlings that sprouted from the base of those plants.
There are more than 100 over three years old date palm trees in his orchard. There are also some over two and a half years old.
Usually, the date palm tree bears fruit in 5-6 years. The farmer is delighted that about 80 trees have borne fruit a year early. He expects that all trees in the orchard will bear fruit next season.
An on-spot investigation showed the orchard owner along with some workers busy tending the trees.
“The unripe dates also taste quite sweet. I will market them as soon as they ripen a bit more,” said Golam Nobi. He expects to be able to collect the dates by the first week of July.
There are 10 varieties of date among the trees that bore fruit including Ajwa, Barhi, Shishi, and Sukkari. According to him, about 8-20 kg of dates can be obtained from each tree.
According to him, a mature date palm tree usually yields fruits for about 50-60 years. He expects to make profits from the orchard for a long time.
Mobarak Hossain, owner of Rajdhani Thai Aluminium said his parents started making saplings from the seeds as a hobby and he later planted about 600 saplings on 2 bighas of land. This year 6 of the trees have bore fruit.
“At first the saplings were planted densely but the male trees are being cut down now,” he said. Some trees are being uprooted and planted on other lands to make make a distance of 12-15 feet between the trees.
He added that in 3 years he had to spend around Tk 11 to tend the trees, but he is just happy to fulfil his parent’s dream project.
According to him, a mature date palm tree bears about 15-30 bunches of fruit and each bunch can weigh about 4-8 kg.
He expects that they will make a considerable amount of profit when all the trees start bearing fruit.
Natore Horticulture Center Deputy Director Dr Md Jahangir Firoz said he along with other officials of the department has been providing assistance and advice to the entrepreneurs on all issues including the maintenance of the garden.
They are monitoring whether the trees yield properly every year. He expects date palm cultivation to spread more in Natore as a profitable business venture if these entrepreneurs become successful.
Not only will it increase employment opportunities, but also benefit the country’s economy by lessening imports of Saudi dates.
According to media news, Nazrul Islam Badal, a farmer of the Pirujali union of Gazipur started cultivation in Saudi Arabia date in 2014 and became successful.
He has created a nursery named Saudi Date Palm Trees in Bangladesh.
Obaidul Islam Rubel, a farmer of Chapainawbganj started cultivation of Saudi Date Palm trees on his three bighas of land in 2017.
