There is a possibility of commercial cultivation of grapes in Jhenaidah. Meanwhile, Abdur Rashid, a farmer from Yugihuda village in Maheshpur upazila of the district, has succeeded in cultivating foreign grapes.

He is selling grapes produced in his garden at Rs 200 per kg. In the last 15 days, he has sold about three manas of grapes. He hopes to sell 10 to 12 more grapes from his 10 katha land.Earlier, grapes were cultivated in different areas but it was not tasted and it was not cultivated for the second time. However, Abdur Rashid has claimed that this is the first time he has succeeded in this cultivation. The trees begin to bear fruit just seven months after planting. Grapes mature in 9 to 10 months. Farmer Abdur Rashid claims that the ripe grapes of his land taste better than the foreign grapes of different varieties sold in the market.

He has planted 75 grape varieties of creepy and super sonica varieties in 10 katha land. These saplings have been collected from India and Italy. I saw that many people are now interested in grape cultivation. Every day visitors are flocking to see his grape cultivation.

Abdur Rashid’s hobby is to cultivate new vegetables, fruits and crops in agriculture. And part of this hobby is to visit any part of the country once a month when you get news of any new cultivation. He has been showing success in cultivating various varieties of fruits including grapes. With the wheel of fortune turned his family.

Abdur Rashid is the son of Nazrul Islam of Yugihuda village in Maheshpur upazila of Jhenaidah. Growing up on the banks of the river Kopotaksh, which flows close to the upazila town, the young students were very talented in life but did not study. From the beginning of his working life he was inspired to work in agriculture with the help of local agricultural officers and others.

This season, he has shown success by cultivating a new variety of watermelon of golden color in two bighas of land. It cost him about Rs 50,000 to cultivate these two bighas. In just two months of cultivation, he has earned Rs 1.5 lakh excluding expenses. In addition to grapes, his five bighas of land include Malta and oranges and lemons.

Farmer Abdur Rashid said that in the last seven months, he planted 85 grape saplings of some varieties including creepy, super sonica and black varieties on ten kathas of land. He collected these saplings from India and Italy. After seven months of care, most of its trees bear fruit. He said each tree has 8 to 10 kg of grapes.

He is cultivating grapes on commercial basis for the first time in Maheshpur upazila. At various times he became interested in watching videos of grape, watermelon, orange cultivation on YouTube. As he is successful in grape cultivation, he is planting grape saplings in a few more bighas of land to expand his cultivation. It takes 3 to 4 months for the grapes to ripen. He claimed that he was the first to succeed in cultivating delicious grapes in the soil of Bangladesh.

Maheshpur Upazila Agriculture Extension Officer Amit Bagchi said, “I have eaten grapes grown by Abdur Rashid myself.” Slightly sour but tastes good. Grapes have been cultivated in our country before but the taste was not good. This time the grapes of his land have tasted good. He added that the climate and soil of Maheshpur upazila are suitable for cultivating various fruits.

Earlier, the farmers of this area have got success by cultivating mango, guava, baukul, apple and watermelon. But seven months ago, farmer Abdur Rashid planted several species of grape saplings on his 10 katha land. In his first year, his vineyard had a great harvest. The grapes are already ripe. It has been delicious. Now we have to try to increase the taste by using more technology in grape cultivation.