Strawberry farming: Jahid shows the way

It was only a few months ago when Jahid Hasan Basunia first started cultivating strawberries, but none of his neighbours had the idea on how to grow the juicy fruit.

Jahid, a resident of Manoram village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, knew it was never going to be an easy task for him as most of the farmers in his locality prefer to grow other seasonal crops and vegetables.

But now, the 34-year-old youth, who started reaping strawberries in February this year, plucks 40 to 45 kilograms of strawberries on an average every day.

Life was not so easy for Jahid, who completed his post-graduation study in 2017, a couple of years ago.

"After completing my studies, I tried for a job for over a year or so," Jahid said.

"Failing to find a suitable job, I opted to try my luck in agriculture and fortunately I have the success I was looking for."

"At first, I started growing various crops, especially potato, on a few bighas of ancestral land in 2018 and since then I never looked back," Jahid said, adding that usually, farming of strawberry requires a lot of money.

"I went to a nursery in Bogura and bought 18,000 strawberry seedlings at a cost of Tk 23 each, and sowed them on 3 bighas of land in November last year," he said.

Of those, about 10,000 seedlings got damaged due to unfavourable weather last year.

Strawberry trees bear fruit after about 80 days of plantation and the season lasts for two and a half months from February.

Jahid said he has spent a total of Tk 6.2 lakh and expecting to sale fruits worth Tk 9 to Tk 10 lakh.

 Currently he is selling each kg of strawberries at Tk 550 to Tk 600 to the fruit sellers.

Majidul Islam, an agricultural worker at Manoram village, said at least three to four labourers works at Jahid's strawberry field every day.

Farmer Sultan Mia of the village said he has a desire to grow strawberries in future, but he was not sure whether he would be able to manage the huge capital it need.

Lalmonirhat Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Hasinur Rahman said though the soil of Lalmonirhat is suitable for strawberry farming, it requires huge cultivation cost.