How schoolteacher turned a hillside in Moulvibazar into a fruit paradise

Around 50 mango varieties grown as an experimental garden attracts local visitors and experts

23 June 2026, 12:59 PM

Mintu Deshwara

There are currently 100 domestic and foreign fruit varieties on a two-acre hillside plot. Photo: Star

In the village of Sariya, Barlekha upazila in Moulvibazar, a private school teacher has quietly built what could rival a professional botanical collection -- a living repository of more than 100 domestic and foreign fruit varieties on a two-acre hillside plot.In 2017, Rezaul Karim Khandaker began with just a handful of mango saplings. When they bore fruit successfully, he expanded his experiment.Grapes came first, followed by citrus varieties. Within a few years, he began sourcing rare cultivars from nurseries across Bangladesh and importing foreign varieties at a personal investment of around Tk 2.5 lakh.