He hopes to export the popular fruit if govt support availed To Narayan Halder of Gotapara village in Bagerhat, farming of ‘kulboroi’ (a kind of plum) has turned out to be a real money-spinner.He has yielded a fabulous success in cultivating the most popular fruit by adopting modern technology.A sexagenarian, Narayan began cultivation of ‘apel kul’ (a species of the plum having shape of apple) in 2009 by planting only three saplings.Since then, he has kept expanding farming of ‘kulboroi’ every year.This year, he cultivated ‘apel kul’ and ‘narkel kul’ (another species, of coconut shape) on about 50 bighas on land.At present, there are about 2,000 apel and narkel kul plants in his gardens.He collects a staggering 320 kgs of ‘apel kul’ from each tree.He has so far sold ‘kulboroi’ worth over Tk50 lakh from the third week of December, 2013.He will sell ‘kulboroi’ till the second week of February.Last year, he sold plum worth about Tk 40 lakh.
From the beginning of the season, his ‘kulboroi’ is being sent to the wholesale markets of Dhaka where it is sold at Tk100 to Tk 110 per kg.His produce is on sale at different fruit shops in Dhaka and Chittagong.He hoped that he would be able to export ‘kulboroi’ if he gets government patronisation.Narayan said 50 people are employed to tend his gardens every day.Taking advice from him more than 100 people from different villages, including Gotapara, Pashchimbagh, Naoapara and Hariakhali, of sadar upazila started cultivating ‘kulboroi’ on their fallow lands.Narayan thinks that if interested cultivators get technological training, government support and the agriculture department comes forward, there could be a revolution in plum cultivation.
According to sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension, Bagerhat, soil of the district is suitable for plum cultivation.Different types of fruits are being cultivated on 1,23,090 bighas of land in the district.Of them, ‘kulboroi’ is cultivated on 2,000 bighas alone. -UNB, Bagerhat
