FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 ..:)Strawberry the new blockbuster crop in bangladesh,chitagong by a ricksha puller

It was last year when auto-rickshaw driver Mohammad Faruk got the idea
of cultivating strawberries from watching a television programme. But
it was never going to be an easy task for Faruk, who is from Rangunia
upazila in Chittagong, where most of his neighbours grew tobacco, and
none in the locality had the remotest idea on how to go about
cultivating strawberries. Even the local agriculture office was not of
much help, except for giving him the tip that strawberries needed
loamy soil to grow. "At least there was something to begin with,"
Faruk told The Daily Star. Later, it occurred to Faruk that his family
had 15 decimals of land with loamy soil in North Ghatchek. But his
family had mortgaged it to a neighbour. He borrowed Tk 50,000 from his
brother Lokman to pay off the mortgage. "I then went to a nursery in
Chittagong and bought 200 seedlings, and sowed them in the plot of
land in March last year," he said. The seedlings yielded seeds, which
he then planted, growing some 2,500 seedlings in three months. Faruk
sold 500 of the seedlings and sowed the rest in his plot of land in
November last year. "I have been reaping strawberries since January 10
this year every alternate day." He plucked 36 kilograms of
strawberries on average at a time for the whole of January, but it
dropped to 20 kgs in February. With financial support from the Swiss
non-governmental organisation Caritas, Faruk invested Tk 1.67 lakh in
the venture and got Tk 2.25 lakh in return. His success story has
inspired many in his neighbourhood. "Farmers in the area used to
cultivate tobacco on 5-7 hectares of land, but after seeing Faruk's
success, most are now eager to grow strawberries," said Kazi Ramij
Ahmed, plant production officer of Rangunia upazila agriculture
office. Gauri Bhattacharjee, Caritas field officer in Rangunia, echoed
Ahmed's view. "Some farmers approached us for assistance. We expect at
least 15 of them will switch to strawberry cultivation this year."
Meanwhile, James Gomes, regional director of Chittagong, told The
Daily Star that they had long been encouraging farmers to grow
vegetables and farm fish, instead of cultivating tobacco. "Faruk's
success has made our job a bit easier." According to upazila
agriculture offices in Chittagong, there are success stories like that
of Faruk in the district, which have inspired many farmers to try
their luck in strawberry cultivation this year.