Moulvibazar Correspondent :
In various areas of Gualbari and Purba Juri Union in Juri Upazila of Moulvibazar district, one can see various sizes of grapefruit hanging from trees in houses and gardens on the hilly terrain. Somewhere, workers are busy collecting the fruit from the trees. Somewhere, the piled-up fruit is being packed in sacks for sale.
Filling work is underway. Grapefruit is cultivated in different parts of the country. However, ‘Jurir Jambura’ has different names depending on its sweetness, juiciness and other qualities. It is in high demand in the market. Grapefruit from here is being transported by truck to various warehouses in the capital Dhaka every day.
According to the information of the Agriculture Department, Grapefruit has been cultivated for a long time in 66 hectares of hilly land in Gualbari and Purba Juri Union of Juri Upazila of Moulvibazar. The annual production is 12 metric tons. There are at least three hundred small and big farmers here. They produce seedlings from seeds for generations.
Each tree produces a different type of fruit. The taste and quality also vary.
In this situation, the Agriculture Department took the initiative to widely expand the fruit by selecting improved varieties. Juri Upazila Agriculture Officer Md. Mahmudul Alam Khan said that grapefruit is more common in hilly areas. Test-
It has been found that the soil of the Juri hillocks is acidic. The soil here has more minerals than other areas of the country. As a result, the grapefruit produced here is relatively sweet and juicy. Therefore, this grapefruit has become famous in the country. Farmers have never
They do not use chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
They only occasionally apply cow dung and straw to the base of the tree as fertilizer. The fruit can be said to be poison-free.
West Kachurgul village, about 15 kilometers from the Juri Upazila headquarters, is located in Gualbari Union, bordering India. The road to West Kachurgul crosses the Juri-Lathitila paved road. Some of the road is brick-paved, some is unpaved. Green small and large hills are visible on both sides of the road.
Kare. People’s houses on the hill There, the grapefruit trees planted on the slope of the hill have borne fruit. Many tree branches have bent under the weight of the fruit. Some people have planted various types of fruit gardens on many local hills. These include grapefruit, malta, oranges, etc. Juri’s goalabari
Patharia Pahar forest area lies on the border of East and West Juri Union and the neighboring Baralekha Upazila. This forest area divides the border between Bangladesh and India. A part of Patharia Pahar forest area is the Lathitila Reserve Forest. This forest falls in Goalbari Union of Juri. The forest has social
With the increase in afforestation, the number of grapefruit trees gradually decreased. Then, the cultivation of this fruit started in the surrounding localities through seeds. Sorkum Ali, a resident of West Kachurgul, in his seventies, has been cultivating this fruit for generations. He has at least 600 grapefruit trees in his garden. One
At that time, he used to sell fruits in Chittagong himself. Now, after picking the fruits, local wholesalers buy the orchard. This time, he has sold all the grapefruits in the orchard for 1.5 lakh taka. However, since the fruits are not ripe, the collection of the fruits from his orchard has not yet begun. Before the fruits ripen, the squirrels
It is wasted. For this reason, many people in the area have started selling early. The sale starts in the middle of August. On average, the wholesale price of a grapefruit is 15 to 20 taka. It is more in Dhaka. Every day, 400-500 bags are loaded in big trucks and 200-250 bags in small trucks.
Grapefruits are taken in bulk. Each sack contains 40 to 60 grapefruits of different sizes. The fruits ripen in mid-November. Earlier, farmers did not have any idea about improved varieties. Due to this, they did not get good prices when selling. Agriculture Officer Mahmudul Alam Khan said that they collected several varieties of grapefruit from different areas. After that, they conducted experiments. Based on the color of the fruit, whether the pulp (the soft part containing food fibers inside the fruit) is easily removed, sweetness and juice content, 12 varieties were improved.
He identified. With the cooperation of the Horticulture Department, seedlings of two varieties out of 12 varieties will be produced using the grafting method. Once the seedlings are available, arrangements will be made for distribution among the farmers as well as exhibition. Earlier, the Agriculture Department had planned to produce ‘Lemon’ varieties by 2022.
Under the Crop Extension, Management and Production Enhancement Project, two varieties of grapefruit named ‘Juri Batabilebu-1’ and ‘Juri Batabilebu-2’ were investigated and taken up for propagation. The two varieties were propagated by grafting method.
About four thousand seedlings were produced and expanded and exhibited in 127 upazilas under the project.
