Shamsul Alam, a teacher by profession, has had great success experimenting with growing a variety of mixed fruits in Rasulpur union of Tangail's Ghatail upazila.
His farm now has over 78 local and foreign fruits, pesticide free for the most part, on a 7-acre stretch of land.
Locals say his passion and perseverance in farming a variety of fruits on hillsides over a span of five years, have brought him deserved success.
Shamsul is an assistant teacher of agriculture at Ghatail SA Pilot Girls High School. It was with teaching agriculture to his students that he began to practice what he preached.
On the advice of local Ghatail upazila agriculture officials, he went on to use various scientific measures to build his farm at a cost of Tk7 lakh.
Although his fruit produce is much sought after in the local Rasulpur market, he laments the lack of proper support from the government which would have helped him grow fruits totally pesticide-free.
Around 8-10 labourers work on his farm every day, he said.
The fruit trees in his garden are mango, malta, orange, blackcurrant, lychee,, banana, jackfruit, pineapple, amlaki, jamrul, sharifa, horbory, sofeta, guava, pomegranate, star fruit, olive, coconut, pichfal, mulberry, lemon, papaya, cherry, jackfruit, karamcha, Batabi lemon, tamarind, palm, Amra, Jujube, cashew, pistachio, peanut, pine nut, Mandarin, melon, satkara, and more.
There are foreign fruits including Saudi dates, Vietnamese opiate coconut, dragon fruit, black grapes, apple, rambutan, pear, eggfruit (South Africa), durian (Malaysian fruit), avocado, mangosteen, coffee, Thai lemon, Chinese oranges, lychees, and guava, Thai guava, Sudanese sharifa, Zapatika, plums, palampol, palm oil, various foreign mango varieties such as King Mango, Black Mango, Kiujai mango (Thailand), and more.
Shamsul observed that one constant challenge he faces is irrigation since hillside soil does not retain much water. "Getting a good supply of water is beyond my means, even though I am now financially solvent," he said.
He is hoping for an irrigation project, which would help him produce more fruits. He also aspires to pass his knowledge on to poorer farmers whose lives can become better with that knowledge.
"Not many local fruits are grown from September on" the teacher said. "I want to produce more fruits which can be grown year round, so that farmers do not suffer seasonal losses."
His motivation for planting foreign fruits is also noble, as he wants to grow them in Bangladesh and reduce dependence on imported fruits which cost a fortune (both at the import and consumer levels.)
Md Abdul Matin Biswas, Ghatail agriculture officer, acknowledged Shamsul's success and the challenges he faces with irrigation and a less than desirable water supply.
"Our authorities are trying their best to integrate his farmland into an irrigation project," he said.