Rangamati Correspondent

Sudatta Chakma, headman of toi Chakma Mouza area, 17 Mile 77 no Naniarchar Upazila, has achieved success in cultivating Chinese and Darjeeling varieties of oranges.In addition to public service, he has developed this huge orange orchard on four acres of land through personal initiative.

He succeeded in cultivating oranges after watching videos on YouTube. His initiative to cultivate oranges in the hills has already received a response from the entire district. The local is praising him for his personal initiative in building a huge orange garden in addition to his public service.

Visitors from various places are flocking to see Sudatta Chakma's beautiful orange garden in the 16-mile area along the Rangamati-Khagrachari road in Naniarchar upazila of the district. Many are buying oranges from the garden at wholesale prices and collecting tree seedlings.

In the orange garden planted by Sudatta Chakma, small and large oranges of various species are hanging from the trees. As these oranges are delicious and juicy, they are in great demand in the district and outside the district. Retailers and wholesalers from different areas of the district are collecting oranges from the garden and taking them to the market for sale.

In addition to the orange garden, Headman Sudatta Chakma is growing orange seedlings there and selling them to farmers from different parts of the district. The orange gardens, which are built around small streams, seem to have added more beauty to nature.

Sudatta Chakma said about planting an orange garden on abandoned land in the hills, "I became interested in gardening after watching videos on YouTube. A few years ago, I started planting first Chinese oranges and later Darjeeling oranges on my four acres of fallow land. I also have Bari-1 and Pakistani Yellow Malta varieties. The garden started bearing oranges within 3-4 years. This year, the yield has been very good. I sold the entire garden for about 4 lakh taka."

He said, "Currently, there are 400 China orange and 450 Darjeeling orange trees in my garden. This year, sweet and delicious oranges are hanging in bunches from the branches of each tree. This orange garden, which was created on a personal initiative, has not only made me self-reliant but has also provided employment to 10/12 unemployed youths."

Minu Begum, Deputy Assistant Agricultural Officer of Naniarchar Upazila Agricultural Office, said, we started providing various suggestions and technical assistance from the Agriculture Department so that he could run the garden commercially and become self-sufficient. This year, the garden has produced a bumper harvest and he has benefited financially. We, the Agriculture Department, will always be by his side. So that others, seeing this success, also want to become agricultural entrepreneurs."

This time, Sudatta Chakma said that he will sell oranges worth 5-6 lakh taka from his garden. He said that if he gets government incentives, it will be possible to further increase orange cultivation in abandoned hills. Apart from oranges, Sudatta Chakma has currently started 10-15 different fruit gardens, including foreign varieties of malta and cashew nuts, on other abandoned lands.

Tapan Kumar Pal, Additional Director of the District Agricultural Extension Department, said, Farmers in various upazilas including Naniarchar, Baghaichhari, and Bilaichhari of the district are becoming interested in orange cultivation. We, on behalf of the Department of Agricultural Extension, are providing technical assistance and advice to the farmers from the collection of seedlings to the arrival of fruits. This year, orange orchards have been harvested on 637 hectares of land in the district and there is a possibility of more than 10 tons of yield per hectare, he said.

Apart from Naniarchar, oranges have been cultivated in many areas of the district including Baghaichhari, Bilaichhari, Longadu, Rajasthali and Barkal upazilas. Locals believe that if the abandoned land in the hills can be utilized for orange production with government sponsorship and proper planning, the hilly region will develop into one of the areas for orange cultivation and will play a major role in the country's economy.