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Behind The Scene
From Jhenidah

An Affair with Litchis

From selling fruits by the streets during his childhood, Abul Hossain has worked hard enough in his life through cultivating litchis to have earned crores. He has escaped poverty for himself and his family to live a lavish life now.
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Azibor Rahman

Abul Hossain sells litchi from his garden in Kaheltala village in Kaliganj, Jhenidah

Abul Hossain has been cultivating litchi for the past 18 years on one acre and 37 decimals of land. He is the son of late Dalil Uddin Khan of Khaertala village under Kaliganj Upazila of Jhenidah. The fruit brought him a profit of more than five lac takas this year alone. He says that it is more profitable than the traditional crops.

In an exclusive interview, Abul Hossain told Star Insight that his father used to be a day laborer. They never owned land of their own, and used to lease land from others to cultivate different crops in the past. Being the eldest son, the whole burden of his family consisting of his mother, younger brother and sister, was put on his shoulders after his father had passed away. He had to quit school at a very tender age as a consequence, and had to sacrifice his childhood to take care of the burdens brought on him so suddenly.

He started of with very many odd jobs that included a small business, working on other peoples' lands, and gathering fruit for sale by the streets in his leisure. The dream of a litchi orchard grew within him from that time. His dreams turned real when he achieved in planting 99 litchi trees in his orchard. The garden has grown so beautifully, that people from all around throng the place just to get a glimpse. He wants to grow his business by cultivating other traditional crops. He says he can make an extra one lac and fifty thousand takas yearly if his business is expanded in such manner. He has already planted mango trees in 57 decimals of land last year as an expansion of his business with the profits he earned from selling litchis. Besides that, he had also invested in the vegetables trade that has fetched him a handsome profit as well. His business has grown so much that he now owns two trucks, has been able to build a luxurious house, and owns nine bighas of personal land.

He has made sure that his children were not deprived of education as he was during growing up. One of his son's have already achieved an Honor's Degree from Jahangir Nagar University, while the one younger is in his final year towards achieving an Honor's degree, and the youngest has completed his Hafezi.

The Agricultural Officer from the Kaliganj Upazilla, Alimuzzaman, has commended the success of Abul Hossain in accumulating such wealth through farming the fruit. He says that most farmers in the area are inclined towards farming litchis as it has proved to be more profitable than other crops.