While many people are losing their jobs and work amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a young man of Boalkhali upazila of Chittagong has set an example by farming papayas during the lockdown.
Md Azim, son of Amir Hossain of Sreepur-Kharandwip union of the upazila, is a government employee by profession but gardening is his hobby.
When the government announced the general holiday last March, the young man tried to utilize the time instead of sitting idle at home.
Three months ago, Azim started growing papaya on an abandoned 10 decimal land, along the Kanungopara-Sreepur Bura Mosque road in Aklia mouza of Popadia union of the upazila.
Apart from papayas, he also planted various vegetables and varieties of lemons, bananas, guavas, and mangoes in the garden.
Azim said that he planted hundreds of high yielding papaw saplings in the land.
He has harvested over one maund (around 38 kg) papaw from each tree.
And with these crops produced in his garden, he is meeting the needs of the family after selling them in local markets.
“I have also distributed other vegetables among the relatives and neighbours. There is a kind of satisfaction in it,” he said.
He said that with the help of the government, he would start papaya fields on a larger scale in the future.
Azim said that he is expecting a yield of 100 maunds, or 400 kg of papaws from his cultivation.
"Having started with Tk 11,000 investment, I am now eyeing for Tk1 lakh from papaw cultivation," said Azim, adding that there will also be income from other vegetables and fruits.
Shahadat, a resident of the area, said although Azim is a government official, he is producing vegetables in the village. Seeing Azim's papaw cultivation, many people in the area are now showing interest in cultivating papaw on arable land.
Upazila Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer Durgapad Dev said there is no problem in the papaw orchard except spiders and fungi attacks. If the weather remains favourable, it is possible to make profits by cultivating nutritious papaw.
