Dragon fruit kindles hope Change Maker.

 

With cultivation commencing in 2013, Khagrachhari Agro Garden in Maishchhari Guchhogram is both the oldest and the largest commercial producer of dragon fruit in the district. “We have 550 dragon fruit cacti,” says its caretaker Mohammad Julhas.

 “We harvested the first fruit last year and expect around 150 bushes to produce fruit this season.

 So far, we have produced around 200 kilograms of dragon fruit which means earnings of at least Tk 1 lakh," he said while talking to The Daily Star last month.

Originally from Mexico and nowadays common in Southeast Asia and China, the delectable dragon fruit, also called pitaya, is a relative newcomer to Bangladesh.

 Over the last few years in Khagrachhari, four innovative farmers have established gardens of the cactus with the aim of putting homegrown dragon fruit firmly on the culinary .

He says their garden has been established with the assistance of the Khagrachhari Horticulture Centre and that this year the predicted harvest should amount to a minimum of 250 kilograms.

Each cactus bush is grown attached by a rubber tie to a concrete pillar for support. The plant usually flowers overnight, with blooms wilting by morning.

 Dragon fruit cacti rely on nocturnal pollinators such as moths and bats for fertilisation. While several self-fertile varieties exist, cross-pollinating varieties usually produce more and better quality fruit.