Jaaldugi brings high profit to growers

Cultivation of Jaaldugi, an early variety of pineapple, has changed the fortune of many farmers in Phulbaria upazila over the last couple of years.

A larger number of farmers in different villages of the upazila are cultivating the early variety pineapple for a higher profit for the last few years.

Ayub Ali, one of the top fruit growers of Santoshpur village, is expecting to earn a good profit from the early variety pineapple, cultivated on his eight acres of land, this season.

The 51-year-old, who lives near the Santoshpur Reserved Forest, said he cultivated Jaaldugi, a small sized early variety pineapple, on eight acres land and expecting to harvest those in between February and early March. 

As the fruit is harvested in early of the year, which is usually off-season for pineapple, so it has a good demand, he said, adding that growers can sell their pineapple at a high and earn a good profit from it.

Ayub, who started from cultivating Jaaldugi variety on one acre land five years ago, has gradually expanded the cultivation area and now there are about one lakh and fifty thousand plants in his field.

If everything goes well he is expecting to earn a profit of Tk 25 lakh this season, Ayub said. 

Ayub said he has been involved in pineapple farming for over 30 years.

In 2019, he earned a profit of Tk 2.5 lakh from Jaaldugi cultivation, Ayub said, adding that the profit was about Tk 10 lakh in 2020.

Like Ayub many pineapple growers of Santoshpur and other adjacent villages in the upazila have been getting a good profit from their produce for the last couple of years as they are enjoying a high fair price of the early variety pineapple.

Farmers said some of the growers are earning double profit from their mixed orchard round the year.

Another farmer of the village Fazlul Haque said he has been growing Jaaldugi variety pineapple on one acre land for the last three years. He earned a profit of Tk 4 lakh this year and eyeing a double profit in the coming season.  

With the development of communication and information technologies, now farmers can directly contact their clients to know the actual market price of their produce, another grower Abdul Hye said.

Maznu Mia of the locality said many growers of Santoshpur and adjacent Krishnapur, Balughat, Harirambari and Kastagara villages have changed their lot through pineapple cultivation in recent years.

Locals said alongside pineapple cultivation of different fruits has created seasonal job opportunity for nearly 50,000 people in the upazila.

Naugaon Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Mozammel Hossain said pineapple is cultivated at a large scale in different villages under Naugaon and Rangamatia unions of the upazila and it is a cash crop for several thousand farmers.

Contacted, Phulbaria Upazila Agriculture Officer Jesmin Nahar said there are over 15,000 pineapple growers in the upazila.

Of them, about 1000 farmers are involved in mixed fruits cultivation and getting a good profit every year, she added.

The pineapples, especially Jaaldugi and Honey Queen variety, produced in the upazila are famous for its taste as both the soil and weather of the area are suitable for pineapple cultivation, she further said.