Khulna nursery industry boosts local economy

A quiet green revolution is taking root across Khulna as the district’s nursery industry continues to flourish, creating employment, boosting the local economy, and helping hundreds of families achieve financial independence.

Driven by a growing interest in home gardening, rooftop farming, and fruit cultivation, demand for quality saplings has surged in recent years. As a result, commercial nurseries are rapidly expanding across Khulna city and all nine upazilas of the district.

Many nursery entrepreneurs who started with leased land and limited capital have since become landowners and successful business operators. Their success has inspired others to join the trade, leading to the establishment of nursery after nursery across the district.

Abu Masud, general secretary of the Khulna District Nursery Owners’ Association, said local nurseries now produce a wide range of fruit, timber, medicinal and ornamental plants.

Popular varieties include Himsagar, Amrapali, Langra, Fazli and Haribhanga mangoes, seedless jackfruit, Vietnamese and Kerala coconuts, guava, litchi, pomegranate, dragon fruit, lemons, betel nut, sapodilla, custard apple, cashew, cinnamon, bay leaf, aloe vera, rose, cactus and numerous other fruit-bearing and medicinal plants.

According to Md Nazrul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Khulna, the district has 68 registered nurseries and around 220 unregistered ones, bringing the total to at least 288. However, he believes the actual number exceeds 400.

“The absence of penalties for failing to register discourages many nursery owners from obtaining official registration,” he said.

He added that a significant number of new nurseries have been established in Phultala and Paikgachha upazilas, from where large quantities of saplings are supplied to different parts of the country.

SM Badrul Alam Royal, president of the Khulna District Nursery Owners’ Association, said grafting techniques are widely used to ensure better yields, disease resistance, and preservation of desirable plant characteristics.

“Methods such as grafting, budding, air-layering and stem cuttings are commonly used to produce high-quality planting materials,” he said.

The expanding nursery sector has also become an important source of employment. Around 2,500 skilled and unskilled workers are currently employed in nurseries across the district, including a significant number of women who play an active role in plant propagation and nursery management.

Small-scale traders purchase saplings from private nurseries at wholesale prices ranging from Tk 5 to Tk 500, depending on species and quality, before selling them in rural markets.

Sheikh Abul Bashar, general secretary of the Phultala Upazila Nursery Owners’ Association, said nursery business has become the primary source of income for many families in the area.

“The monsoon is the ideal season for tree plantation, so customer demand remains exceptionally high. Every day, people visit nurseries to buy fruit, medicinal and ornamental plants,” he said.