Medjool dates grown first in Bangladesh!

CUMILLA, Apr 10: Medjool, a variety of large and sweet date, has been grown successfully for the first time in Bangladesh.

Ahmed Jamil Selim of the Cumilla city is awaiting success in Medjool cultivation.

"It all started in 2017. One of my relatives brought some Medjool dates from California, the USA. I sowed some seeds and two saplings came out of them," he told this correspondent.

He then started taking care of both the date trees.

Fortunately, one of them was a male tree and the other female. Five years later, the female sapling started to bloom in his orchard in Cumilla city's Baganbari's Thakurpara.

Several officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) confirmed that this is probably the first cultivation of Medjool dates in Bangladesh.

Ahmed Jamil Selim now wants to use his success by cultivating Medjool dates commercially.

"Root seedlings will come out from this date tree. And there will be new trees from them, too. So, there can easily be an orchard of Medjool dates," he said.

Medjool dates are one of the most developed varieties in the world. It is mainly cultivated in a handful of countries including Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Egypt and the USA.

Md Mizanur Rahman, Deputy Director of DAE, said, "Medjool is a delicious and nutritious date variety. The demand for these dates is high across the globe. And it has proved to be more profitable than other varieties."

"We're visiting Selim's date palm tree regularly and helping him with the necessary advices," he added.

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