Success story of a nut grower in Ishwarganj

Deluar Hossain Delu, a resident of Charpubmail village under Borohit union of Ishwarganj in Mymensingh, has brought significant change in his socio-economic condition by growing nut. After coming from Saudi Arabia, he involved himself in nut cultivation commercially two years ago. He started cultivating nut in his two acres of land received by dint of inheritance.

Though he didn't make enough production in the first time, he has gradually trained himself by taking various advices from upazila agriculture office. In this season, he collected high quality seed and cultivated the seed on time using proper system. He has taken advices from agriculture department. He is expecting bumper yield of nut this year. 

While speaking to Deluar Hossain Delu, he said, "After coming from abroad, I was not sure what I will do. I can't cultivate Boro paddy as my lands weren't suitable for it. Later, I decided to cultivate vegetables.

I used to cultivate seasonal vegetables. Later, I became interested in cultivating nut with the advices from Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer Ali Akhsar Khan. He also said, "I am expecting 3-maunds nuts in 10 decimals land. The market price of per maund nut is Tk 3,500.  I can earn about one lakh excluding cost by cultivating nut which I couldn't earn working in abroad."

According to the Upazila Agriculture Office, "Nut is cultivated in sandy loam soils of the Brahmaputra River and on the banks of its tributaries Kanchamatia. Nut has been cultivated in about 5 hectares of land in the char areas of the upazila this year. Talking to Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer Ali Akhsar Khan, Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer, he said, "The farmers have less interest in nut cultivation in the region. If production and market prices are good, more farmers will be interested in cultivating this short-term crop in future.    

Upazila Agriculture Officer Sadhan Kumar Guha Majumder said, "Nut is cultivated in the char areas. If upazila agriculture office is contacted for advice, they recommend cultivating improved and more productive varieties Dhaka-1 and Bari-4. Those farmers who cultivate high yielding verities of nut, they can expect higher yields or bumper yields", the Upazila Agriculture Officer added.

---Md Selim in Ishwarganj