Dragon fruit cultivation by using lighting method.
Abul Kalam Azad is an electrical engineer by profession. He works for one of the largest companies in the country. About four years ago, he developed a dragon fruit orchard on his 20 bigha land in his village. Later he built two more dragon gardens which were 26 bad land. But after turning on electric lights at night and increasing the length of the day, his garden now produces dragon fruit all year round. Using the lighter method, he produces dragon fruit out of season and sells it for four or five times the price. By using artificial light he increases the length of the day
Azad’s method of planting dragonflies in the off-season has received a tremendous response.
Abul Kalam Azad, an electrical engineer who has become popular in the district after he pictorially planted dragon fruits for the first time in Naogaon, lives in Hapania village in Sapaharopa district of Naogaon.
Azad’s three dragon parks are located in Hapnia and Dighirhat areas of Sapahar. In all three gardens, thousands of electric lights are turned on at night to plant the dragon seeds. More than 300 metric tons of dragon fruit are produced annually. with a market value of about 70 million taka.
Recently, when visiting the site, entrepreneur Abul Kalam Azad said, “During the Corona pandemic, I did not have to go to the office day after day. I used to do office work at home. At that time, I thought about how the agricultural lands inherited from my ancestors could be used for more production. Since then, I have been watching various agricultural content on television and YouTube. From that idea, I first started experimentally cultivating dragon fruit on the land inherited from my ancestors next to my house in 2020. After getting good success there, the area of that garden started to increase the next year.
Regarding the cultivation of dragon fruit in winter with the lighting method, he said, “Dragon trees are called sun trees. The more sunlight this tree receives, the more flowers and fruits it will produce. The longest day in Bangladesh is in June. Therefore, the dragon tree produces the most flowers and fruits at this time. In our country, dragon fruit is usually harvested for six months (May to October). Due to the short length of the day, dragon fruit does not bear fruit for the remaining six months. During this time, it is possible to create a daytime environment in the garden by lighting special electric lights and growing flowers and fruits on dragon trees.’
It cost 6 million taka to buy 10,000 lights. In addition, another 10-15 million taka was spent on using wires and bamboo poles to light the lights. Seeing this success, others are also using this modified special type of LED light.
Abul Kalam Azad said that by using the lighting method, they are getting more yield than in the season. In the 46 bigha garden, 150 metric tons of dragon fruit are produced in the season. With the lighting method, the yield of dragon fruit in the same garden in winter is more than 160 metric tons. During the season, dragon fruit is sold for 150 to 200 taka per kg. When dragon fruit is grown out of season, that dragon fruit is sold for 400 to 500 taka per kg. That is, by growing dragon fruit in the off-season, the price is five times higher.
Mahbubur Rahman, the manager of the dragon fruit garden, said, “We have 15 people working permanently in this garden. Permanent workers work here on monthly contracts of 20,000 to 10,000 taka. Apart from this, about 60-70 agricultural workers work in the garden on daily wage contracts every day. Since the garden was established, about 100 people in the village have been employed.”
Abul Kalam Azad, Deputy Director of the District Agricultural Extension Department, said that in the interest of production, such agricultural entrepreneurs apply new techniques and find something new. Azad has set an example by using modern agricultural techniques in remote areas like Hapaniya in Sapahar by growing dragon fruit in the off-season. Other farmers are also being inspired by this.
Sources from the Naogaon Agricultural Extension Department said that dragon fruit cultivation has increased in Naogaon recently. This year, it is being cultivated on 70 hectares of land in the district. In just three years, dragon fruit cultivation in this district has increased almost threefold. Dragon fruit cultivation is being carried out in four gardens in the district using the lighting method. In addition to the three gardens of Azad in Sapahar, dragon fruit cultivation is being carried out in a 40-bigha garden in Khanpukur area of Raninagar upazila of the district using the lighting method.
Do Follow: greenbanglaonline24
