Roof Gardening is a hobby and means of earning

Bogura/ Dhaka, Bangladesh – Rooftop gardening, as a hobby in Bangladesh, is an alternative way to meet the demand for plantation mainly in cities as the amount of usable land currently is decreasing in the country.

Roof gardeners from Bangladesh said the production of fresh fruits and vegetables in the rooftop garden can increase the nutritional status of household members of the urban citizens and it will make a positive contribution to the environment.

They added that such a type of farming can be a source of income and it can create biodiversity in nature, through the presence of different kinds of birds and the rarest species of insects.

Agricultural experts said a successful and sustainable rooftop garden requires a strong roof, a proper water disposal system, and a capacity to take the load of the garden.

To turn the hobby into an economically viable business, Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam, who works at Agricultural University in Dhaka, made some recommendations to gardeners to make profits from their work.

“One must be serious about specific points such as selecting crops, reducing the cost of materials used, etc. Planting should be horizontal, not vertical. Because the space in the roof is very limited, if we use the horizontal system, we will get very less space for planting, so good planning is key,” Islam said.

Cactus, Bonsai, different sorts of flowers, decorative plants, and Pumpkin are some of the plants that Bangladeshis generally grow on rooftops as a hobby.