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Fruit bagging guava farming delights many Rajshahi people

Published : Friday, 19 July, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 68
RAJSHAHI, July 18: Guava farming using fruit-bagging technology has gradually been gaining popularity in the region including its vast Barind tract for the last couple of years.

In terms of protecting the cash crop from pest attack besides getting quality yield, fruit-bagging technology is being adjudged as very beneficial to commercial fruit farming, horticulturists and farmers said.

So, the growers are seen using fruit-bagging technology in guava orchards in the region comprising Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon and Natore districts commercially.

Earlier, they used modern technology in some of the mango orchards and attained significant success in this regard.

Shafiqul Islam, a farmer in Putia upazila of Rajshahi, initially started growing a new variety of guava, called Thai guava, on five bighas of leased land about five years ago in hopes of turning his fortunes.

And while he was initially skeptical about the crop's potential, his doubts have since been blown away as Thai guava has become a favourite among people.

"I was not aware of the prospect of Thai guava as I was doubtful about the yield and profit, but my doubts eventually turned into hope after getting results," Islam said, adding that the fruit bagging technology has benefited him enormously.

Having attained financial freedom, Islam now looks to expand his guava orchard.

After meeting all the expenses, his current orchard rakes in a profit of about TK 3 lakh per year.

Like Islam, many other farmers have also changed their fates by farming Thai guava.

Abu Bakar Siddique, a resident of the Madanhaat area of Natore, once struggled to support his six-member family through his scrap recycling business.

In a bold step, he obtained a loan of Tk 3 lakh and started farming Thai guava on three bighas of land.

After enjoying early success, he invested Tk 10 lakh to expand his farm last year and got good yields and profits.

Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources said there are huge guava trees of different ages and varieties on some two lakh hectares in the region with creation of many more new orchards and increased guava farming in the homesteads in recent years.

If the bags were used substantially, use of harmful chemical insecticides and pesticides could be reduced to a greater extent on the huge trees.

Thereby, the technology will open up a new door for exporting mangoes from the two districts, famous for the fruit, to various foreign markets.

Scientists of Regional Horticulture Research Center (RHRC) in Chapainawabganj have released the technology among the growers after attaining a remarkable success in mango.

Referring to his research findings Dr Saraf Uddin, Senior Scientific Officer of RHRC, told the local journalists that bagged fruits had higher recovery of marketable fruits over the non-bagged ones.

Dr Safar says pre-harvest fruit bagging is a useful approach for plant protection and improved post-harvest fruit quality as bagging of guava fruits for lower insect and disease damage in fruits.

Bagging with different paper materials resulted in fruits with lower insect and disease damage and minimized fruit quality defects. Thick waxy magazine significantly prevented fruit fly damage with infestation ranging from zero to less than one percent.

Dr Alim Uddin, retired Chief Scientific Officer of Fruit Research Station in Rajshahi, says guava is one of the commercially important fruit crops in the region but the important cash crop is prone to attacks of insect pests and diseases in all stages of development.

In this field, the technology has created a high hope among the growers and traders towards removing the menace.

The initiative aimed to determine which of the bagging materials and forms gave the best quality of fruits, determine the effect of the bagging materials and forms on pest incidence and find out which of the bagging materials and forms gave the highest yield and net income.

If the technology was used, there would be no spot on guava in the bagged ones.

Besides, the fruit could be protected from all kinds of diseases and pests that will boost the volume of exportable guava. Apart from this, as the market price of the bagged guava is lucrative the growers can sell their produce at a high price.    —BSS



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