Growers beam with joy as off-season watermelons fetch higher prices

Growers in Tangail have big smiles on their face as their off-season watermelons are fetching higher prices since demand has been good owing to the sweltering heat. 

Buoyed by the success in recent years, more local farmers are now interested in cultivating various types of watermelons, which have started to hit the local market.

Due to the scorching heat, the demand for the fruit has gone up, providing much-needed relief to growers who had feared losses at the time of runaway inflation.

Nargis Akter, a sub-assistant agriculture officer at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Tangail, told The Daily Star that though the soil in the district is not suitable for watermelon cultivation, some farmers are growing the fruit on an experiment basis under private initiatives.

"We are giving necessary advice to the farmers who are interested in growing the fruit."

Shakil Ahmed Shuvo, a young  agriculture entrepreneur in Gomjani village under the district's Delduar upazila, has successfully been cultivating watermelons on a trial basis for the last two years.

He has grown watermelons on his three bighas of land this year at a cost of Tk 1.5 lakh. He started cultivating the fruit in April and began harvesting it in June. He has already sold watermelons worth Tk 1.25 lakh.

"I hope I will be able to sell the rest of the fruit at Tk 1.50 lakh," said Shuvo, a graduate in soil science from the Bangladesh Agricultural University.

Sharif Hossain, a customer in Bhurbhuria village, said he went to Shuvo's orchard and bought some watermelons.

"The fruits are juicy and sweet."

Delduar Upazila Agriculture Officer Shoaib Ahmed said watermelons grown by Shuvo are being sold from the field at Tk 60 to Tk 70 per kilogramme because of higher demand.

Ahmed said that a modern polynet house will be provided to him under a project along with various assistance from the upazila agriculture office in order to encourage the young entrepreneur.

Using the assistance, he will be able to cultivate high-value crops, including melons, tomatoes and capsicums, he said.

Alamgir Hossain, a farmer in Kuragacha village of Madhupur upazila, has cultivated watermelon on one bigha of land. He grew the fruit on the advice of the local agriculture department.

"Yields have been good. Harvesting from my field will begin in the next few days," he said.

Tapas Kumar Saha, a sub-assistant agriculture officer of Madhupur, said local farmers are getting interested in cultivating the fruit as the price is high.

Shakura Nammi, additional agriculture officer in the upazila, said that they have experimentally cultivated off-season watermelons on two bighas of land and the yield has been good.

"There are various summer fruits such as mangoes, berries, jackfruits and litchis in the market right now. We want to plant watermelons on a trial basis to see the level of yield we get."

Off-season watermelons are mostly grown in south-western districts such as Jashore and Magura.

The production of watermelons in the regular season of 2021-22 was 550,000 tonnes, an increase of 58.95 per cent compared to 2020-21 when output stood at 346,000 tonnes.