Year-round watermelon

After completing his Secondary School Certificate in 1999, Tariqul Islam, from Rahelapur village in Jessore Sadar upazila, took a job at a photo frame factory in Malaysia. Despite the promise of a good livelihood, a future as an expatriate worker wasn't for him. None could have foreseen that Tariqul would become the pioneer all-season watermelon farmer in his district. Many have since followed his initiative. Year-round watermelon cultivation in Jessore is proving a profitable endeavour.

While making frames in the Malaysian factory Tariqul had only one problem: The only frame that could contain his heart was his memories of his motherland. Thoughts of a Rahelapur childhood drove him, proved to be his passion. Thus, after eight years he did the only thing he could do. He gave in to his heart and returned home.

Tariqul then went to visit his elder brother who at the time was working in Chuadanga.

There, he noticed that farmers were growing watermelons, of the usual Chinese and Japanese varieties. Watermelons weren't a common crop in Jessore at the time. Tariqul wondered if watermelons can thrive in Chuadanga, why not in Jessore?

With additional motivation from the marketing officer of an established seed company, Tariqul decided to try. Moreover, he chose to begin with the Jesmine-2 and Bantak varieties from Taiwan, which can provide fruit year-round. Since he planted his first watermelon seed Tariqul has never looked back.

He grows the fruit on raised, shaded platforms, with the shading lasting for at least three crop cycles. “The lifespan of a watermelon is only sixty days,” says Tariqul. “It costs around Tk 35,000 to grow watermelons on one bigha of land but this should produce up to 1500 melons weighing more than 4 tonnes. If the watermelons are sold at a small size, the net profit should still reach around Tk 80,000. It ends up being more profitable than other crops.”

Tariqul's success has not gone unnoticed. At least forty farmers in surrounding villages have followed his lead. Watermelon cultivation in sadar upazila now accounts for up to twenty acres of farmland and Tariqul is commonly acknowledged as the local industry's founder.

“Common watermelon varieties are grown from February to April,” says the sub-assistant agriculture officer of sadar upazila's Isali union, Abu Sayed Mohammad Arif. “Those watermelons are brought from other districts to sell here. But all-season watermelons are grown here. They have high demand since they are available to consumers year-round.

Besides, the Taiwanese varieties are less susceptible to insect attack which means the chance of loss to farmers is reduced. Apart from excess water build-up at the base of the plant there is little to disrupt its growth.”

An additional advantage of all-season watermelons is that they can be grown on paddy land that usually remains fallow for two months after the Boro rice crop harvest. “An all-season watermelon crop can be harvested before the next rice crop is due for planting,” Arif says.

Barely three years ago, there were few farmers in Jessore who thought about watermelons. These days, the raised structures on which the hanging melons grow are an increasingly common part of the landscape. It's a story of innovative agricultural success that started quite unexpectedly, with an expatriate worker's longing for his childhood home.