Home ›› 28 Nov 2022 ›› Nation
The famous orange orchards of Jaldhup village of Sylhet are dying out for various reasons, related sources said.
The Jaldhupi oranges in the hilly orchards of Beanibazarupazila are famous all across the country. However, recently due to various reasons, including decreased soil fertility, low yield, and the absence of owners the orchards are slowly dying out.
Even three years ago the situation differed from the present. The orchards were all full of orange trees and on the Bengali month of Kartik the trees were propped up on bamboo poles, so as not to break under the weight of hundreds of fruits.
Abdul Hamid, an orchard owner of the area, said the orchard belonged to his father and he grew up during the glorious days of Jaldhupi oranges.
Reminiscing about the past, he said previously wholesalers from Dhaka and Sylhet used to come and buy their harvest for a good price. “But those days are no more. The yield has decreased significantly and so has the demand,” said Abdul.
Related sourcessaidJaldhup village of the upazila was famous for its oranges even abroad. However, in the past few years, the production of oranges has continuously decreased. One of the major reasons is that farmers have lost interest in orange cultivation.
Sylhet was once known as much for its oranges as it is for the tea. Increased production cost, adverse weather and lost soil fertility are taking away the interest of farmers from this fruit in recent years.
As a result, oranges from China, India, Bhutan and Nepal have taken over the country's market. Sellers tend to go for foreign oranges as they are available at relatively low prices. Due to the decreased demand, farmers are also facing loss in orange cultivation.
Nitol Bhattacharya, an orange grower of Jaldhup area, said there used to be orange trees in every yard even a decade ago. But now there are only 20-25 small orchards in the village.
"The trees need to be taken care of in order to bear fruit. But as they are not profitable much, the owners have lost interest," he said.
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) officials said orange production in Sylhet is declining due to lack of interest, training and maintenance. They also said a project is underway to train farmers and increase orange cultivation in the region.
According to the local DAE office, a similar project was undertaken in 2001 to encourage farmers to grow oranges in Sylhet. Around 250 orchards were planted in four districts under the eight-year project called 'Greater Sylhet Integrated Orange Cultivation Development'. This increased some interest in orange cultivation, but after the project expired in 2008, orange cultivation started to gradually decline.
In 2019, another project was undertaken by the DAE to increase orange cultivation in Sylhet. The project titled 'Citrus Fruit Expansion, Management and Production Increase Project', was to help increase the production of the fruits in nine upazilas of the district.
However, the project has yet to reap any benefits, agriculturalists said.
Beanibazarupazila Agriculture Officer Ahmed RashedunNabi said the orange orchards in the upazila are lacking in maintenance. He also said if the soil loses fertility, or if the weather is too hot during flowering, the trees will bear less fruit.
"Most of the orchard owners reside abroad and as a result the trees are not maintained properly. However, we always try to help the farmers with advice and assistance to the best of our efforts," he said.
According to DAE data, oranges are grown in 50.52 hectares of land in a total of 150 orange orchards in the upazila.
In April 1997, the Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) conducted a research on orange cultivation in Sylhet and found that the soil in the area is gradually becoming infertile. However, with proper maintenance and fertiliser application this situation can be prevented.
The researchers said providing the farmers with training, proper irrigation pumps, and cold storage for the harvested oranges will help increasing the production.
Necessary support from the government will go a long way in bringing back the golden days of orange cultivation in the district.
