American Red Palmer, Australian R2E2, Japanese Miyazaki, Brunai King Mango, Ivory Coast's Red Ivory, Thailand's "King of Chakapat" and many more –  as many as 42 varieties of mangoes from four different continents can be found in one single orchard in Dhulti village of Pabna's Ishwardi upazila.

How? All thanks to young entrepreneur Mehedi Hasan Shibli.

A recent university graduate, Shibli has been collecting seedlings of fruits of foreign varieties, especially mangoes, since 2019. As a college student, he had an innate passion for expanding his orchard, which now is a profitable business.

Photo: Star

"I first collected 19 varieties of mangoes and cultivated them at my orchard 'Matri Bagan' in 2019. Within a year, the plants began giving fruits, inspiring me to further develop my garden and nursery.

"Within five years, I was able to collect 42 different varieties of mangoes from different countries of four continents [Asia, Africa, Australia and America]."

He established the Matri Bagan, including a nursery on a three-bigha land, with 150 mango plants.

A marketing graduate, Shibli aspires to develop his career as an agro entrepreneur with focus on fruit varieties, especially mangoes, from across the globe.

Photo: Star

"Twenty-six mango varieties are already giving great output. The remaining 16 have been planted and will soon start bearing fruits.

"Whenever I learn about a new variety of mango from anywhere in the country, I rush there to get it! My dream is to turn my orchard into the only one in the country that grows the most variety of mangoes from around the world!"

Visiting Matri Bagan recently, this correspondent saw mangoes of different shapes and colours swinging from tree branches. Many were covered in fruit bags to ensure pests and birds do not affect them.

Photo: Star

A lot of research also goes into the work to determine conducive atmospheres for each variety.

"The mangoes from different countries have different characteristics. But since we're growing them all in the same orchard, we're taking special care. We use the fruit bags also to ensure they get their proper shape and colour," Shibli added.

In his Matri Bagan, each tree -- mostly two to two and half years old -- bears at least 20-40kgs of mangoes.

"Though my orchard is new and the trees are young, we're satisfied with the production from each of them … We'll get more yield from each tree as they get older."

Shibli gets orders from different supershops for mango supplies, "But I am not going for commercial sales yet. Maybe next year, if production increases. However, if someone separately wants to buy mangoes from me, I sell the foreign varieties at Tk 500-1,000 per kg."

Photo: Star

Shibli also produces seedlings of various fruits by grafting the mother trees in his nursery. Including the 42 varieties of mangoes, there are 200 varieties of fruits growing in his nursery.

Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together.

Many fruit and plant lovers also buy saplings of different fruit varieties from Matri Bagan.

"When I began the nursery five years ago, I earned around Tk 70,000-80,000 a year from selling saplings. Now, with my varieties widened, I get Tk 40-50 lakh a year.

"Along with growing my agro business, I want to help people with job opportunities in my area through my orchard."

Speaking to The Daily Star, Sheikh Mehedi Hasan, a resident of Shahapar village in the upazila, said he often goes to Shibli's orchard to observe the beautiful mangoes from different countries.

"It's not possible for us to go to all these countries, but Shibli has at least made it possible for us to get the taste of mangoes from there! It's rare to get so many varieties in one single orchard."

A gold medalist farmer from the upazila, Md Sajahan Ali Badsha said, "It's not easy to grow fruits or crops from different countries on one single field, but Shibli has shown how to make it possible.

"Many farmers try to cultivate foreign varieties together but, in most cases, they don't succeed. What Shibli is doing will revolutionise the agro business."

Mita Sarker, agriculture officer of Ishwardi upazila, said, "Shibli is inspiring all those around him with this work. He is successful in grafting trees and also growing the fruits from so many countries. With time, all those varieties will be able to tolerate our weather and we can get more production."