ZCZC
BSS-02
HORTICULTURE-CENTRE-GAIBANDHA
Activities of Horticulture Centre continues in Gaibandha
GAIBANDHA, Mar 14, 2019 (BSS) – The official activities of Horticulture
Centre (HC) under the Ministry of Agriculture have been continuing in the
district since March, 2018 amid much enthusiasm to the concerned.
Office sources said the present government took a decision to set up 9 HCs
in addition to 77 ones across the country under Yearly Round Fruit Production
for Nutrition Improvement Project designed for five years till June 2021.
Accordingly, the HC was established here in March last year and since
then, the activities have been going on at the old office of Department of
Agriculture Extension (DAE) at Khamarbari of the town here on temporary
basis.
The permanent Bhaban for the HC is being built on 15.46 acres of land of
Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) campus located at Bangla Bazar on V-AID
Road of the town and the construction work is nearly completion, sources
said.
Office building, training centre, mother plants orchard and sapling
production orchard will have in the HC, said an official.
Senior horticulturist Dr. Saykhul Arifin said the main objective of the HC
establishment here is to produce fruits all the year round to meet the demand
of nutrition side by side with women empowerment and creating working
opportunities to eradicate poverty.
Generally, almost all the fruits like mango, blackberry, jackfruit and
lichi are available in Bangla three months-Baishakh, Joistho and Ashar and
the fruits are not available in rest nine months of the year, he also said.
They would take initiatives to produce early and late varieties of fruit
through selling the saplings of the early and late varieties trees to the
people so that they could get fruits from the trees the rest nine months of
the year, he added.
Apart from it, they would set up demonstration plots and arrange field day
for the farmers to make them interested to establishing fruits orchard on
their land, he further added.
They would sell the saplings of mango, coconut (Vietnam), Thai peara,
dragon fruit and persimmon fruit from the HC to the people in subsidized
price; he said adding that they would also provide technological support to
any entrepreneurs to set up orchards.
Dr. Saykhul Arifin expressed his gratefulness to whip of the Jatiya
Sangsad and local lawmaker Mahabub Ara Begum Gini as all credit went to her
because she cooperated cordially and played significant role in establishing
the HC here.
BSS/CORR/MR/ 1047 hrs