Three sisters have arrived from three different parts of the country to visit the National Tree Fair 2022. For them, it is a festival where they gather once a year to buy all their desirable plants under one shade.
Shamsunnahar Amin Juthi, one of the sisters who is a school teacher at the capital’s Nalanda, came to the fair – being held at Agargaon since June 5 – from Uttara. Her sisters came from Brahmanbaria and Narsingdi.
They are excited as the fair was not held in the last two years due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
“We have altogether shopped nearly around Tk20,000 worth of plants and tools. I have been visiting the fair for the last 7/8 years. My home is a mini jungle. Instead of decoration pieces, plants are used for ornamentation in every corner of the home. I also have a rooftop garden where I grow vegetables and fruits. The tree fair is a must-visit for us every year.”
Dhaka TribuneAs per their observation, this year the fair has a significant presence of plants brought from abroad and prices are also a bit higher than in previous years. “Still, it’s the food of the mind,” said Juthi.
The National Tree Fair is a flagship programme of the Forest Department under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). As usual, traders from all over the country have showcased their collections, among which indoor plants, fruits, flowers and decorative plants are in high demand.
But the traders complained that they were not having customers as expected despite its resumption following the suspension of the fair in the last two years.
Sales not up to expectations
According to the sellers, this year the number of visitors is much less than in previous years. On top of that, inflation and rain all over the city have significantly decreased the number of green lover customers.
Md Saidur Rahman of Ashulia Garden Centre complained about not having expected sales.
“In previous years, we used to sell plants up to Tk300,000 every day. Now, we aren’t able to sell even Tk100,000 worth of plants.”
From the information booth of the Forest Department, it was found that on average Tk3,000,000 worth of products are being sold every day since June 19. Over the weekends, the amount goes around Tk4,000,000.
Along with the conventional plant sellers, a great number of traders were selling bonsai trees. Bonsai is a Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots. Starting from Tk1,000 to Tk1,200,000, Living Art Bonsai from Gazipur has it all.
Anis, sales representative of Living Art Bonsai, said: “The Chinese banyans cost Tk1,000. Besides Mango banyan, Kathali banyan and our traditional banyans are also sold here. The Kamini Bonsai is the most expensive one in our collection. Usually, people mostly have more interest in taking pictures with our trees than buying, as the price range is quite high.”
The tree fair has an obnoxiously large number of hybrid and foreign variant plants – maybe it is indoor plant monstera or hybrid mango variant King of Chakapat or Japanese cherry blossom plants.
However, local plants, trees and seeds still have the appeal.
Opportunity for spreading new ideas
The open space in front of Maag Honey was a bit different, as it depicts a miniature of the Sundarbans trying to create awareness among people about the world’s largest mangrove forest.
It is a joint collaboration between Maag Honey and the Chittagong-based research centre and bee museum Alwan Honey.
Turns out they not only sell honey but also an artificial solution to cultivate bees on the rooftop. It looks like a small box made like a beehive that is filled with bees. It is light, portable and easy to take care of.
Dhaka Tribune“We have come to this fair for the first time. Our main intention is to introduce people to our product. They can grow their honey in a completely organic way on their rooftops. We provide installation, instructions and a complete set of logistics that are needed for this cultivation,” said Gazi Sakib, director of Maag Honey.
Their installed beehive can produce honey every 15-18 days; after that these are ready to be extracted. “People are afraid of the idea of being near bees, but bees are in general not dangerous nevertheless we provide all the safety gears,” he added.
Companies like ACI Green Solutions and Nagarkrishi are providing urban agricultural solutions for homes, offices, factories and any urban space which needs a touch of greenery.
Tipu Sultan, deputy assistant officer of the Department of Agriculture Extension, said how people were more interested now in knowing ways and methods of how to plant and take care of trees.
“Our department works with innovations and expansion of agriculture around the country. At this fair, we are providing customers with their required information. We have printed handbooks and leaflets which we are disseminating free of cost,” said the officer.
