Growers very happy as 'pineapple village' sees bumper production
The pineapple farmers at Bahadurpur village in Juri upazila of the district are all smiles as they saw a bumper production of the fruit this season. Local people said the juicy and tasty fruit has been growing abundantly in the area since long, which is now known as 'pineapple village'. Growers said they had been cultivating different kinds of fruits, including pineapple, at Bahadurpur village since Pakistan period. There was no intention among the growers to make profit from pineapple cultivation at that time. But the situation has changed and the locals are now cultivating it on massive scale and in a planned way. Locally grown pineapple has a great demand outside the district, they said. About 100 acres of land at the village have been brought under pineapple farming this year. The village has about 30 orchards where four lakh pineapple plants were grown, said locals. Fakhruzzaman, a pineapple grower, said his late father Mortuza Ali had started cultivation of different fruits, mostly pineapple, on 300 bighas of land in 1965. “Since then we are cultivating the fruit every year. This season we sold pineapple worth about Tk two lakh”, he said. Another cultivator Chinu Mia said he grew about 2,500 pineapple plants on his three bighas of land this year. He said he was happy as the production is satisfactory. Locals said that traders from outside the district are coming to the village everyday to buy pineapple. At present per 100-piece pineapple is being sold between Tk 1,800 and Tk 2,000 at the wholesale market, the growers said. Upazila agriculture officer Mir Bazlur Rashid told this correspondent that pineapple is being cultivated on massive scale at Bahadurpur village since long. Though small in size, the locally produced pineapple is very tasty, he said. The Department of Agriculture Extension provided necessary assistance to the growers to make the pineapple cultivation a success, he further said.
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