Strawberry farming gains popularity

Commercial farming of strawberry has been gaining popularity in the Rajshahi region for the last couple of years.

Farmers' level extension of strawberry farming can bring a new horizon to the agriculture sector in the region.

"Strawberry cultivation is as easy as growing potato or eggplant. Saplings can be planted in rows during the period between November and December every year," said Prof AKM Rafiul Islam of the Department of Botany of Rajshahi University.

Illustrating salient feature of strawberry, a high-value cash crop, he said the plants start flowering within one month of plantation and fruits can be collected till March.

"Each plant bears around 250 to 300 grammes of fruit and some 6,000 plants can be grown on one bigha of land," Dr Islam said, adding that with farmer-level price of around Tk 600 per kg, the fruit will have a bigger market locally and globally and benefit farmers enormously.

Now, a large number of people, mostly unemployed youths, have become dependent on strawberry farming to earn a living, as its cultivation is easier and more profitable than other crops, he said.

The youths are supplying strawberry to different markets across the country as the soft fruit is being used in preparing ice-cream, jam, jelly, pickles, chocolates and biscuits.

Prof Manzur Hossain, who is a pioneer in research on strawberry, its variety, innovation and expansion in the country, said Bangladeshi strawberry variety has been adjudged as the world's best strawberry.

"We have innovated three varieties of strawberries through applying tissue culture method," he said.

"In the demonstration field, all those were found adaptive to the region's soil and environmental conditions," said Prof Hossain, another teacher of Botany.

ATM Rafiqul Islam, deputy manager (agriculture) of Barind Multipurpose Development Authority, said there has been a bright prospect of farming strawberry everywhere in the country except the coastal districts. The red juicy and nutritious fruit produced by him is now being supplied to markets in the capital.

The country can earn a huge amount of foreign currencies from strawberry export if its commercial farming starts at national level, he hoped.