Farmers in Panchagarh are very happy nowadays since they have not only witnessed a bumper yield of watermelons but are also getting fair prices for their produce.
Just few years back, most of the people in this area were facing abject poverty and now they are leading happy lives with three meals a day and their children get to go to school regularly.
Farmers said a marginal farmer also earned Tk30,000-50,000 as each of their produce sold at Tk10 to Tk30 according to size.
Panchagarh is considered the producer of the best quality watermelon in the country for its favourable climate, suitable soil, easy availability of labour and other facilities.
The fruits are mostly cultivated at the Harivasha, Chala, Magura, Amarkhana, Satkhamer, Hafizabad, Banglabandha, Tirnai, Jagdal and Bhajanpur villages.
Not only has the juicy summer fruit flooded the local markets, it also makes its way to Dhaka and other parts of the country on 10 to 20 trucks, daily. Each truck carries 2,000 to 2,400 watermelons, said Md Abdul Malek, who is a wholesaler.
The price of 100 watermelons is between Tk1,500 and Tk4,000 in the local markets, he said, adding that watermelons have boosted the local economy as the strategic business hubs are humming with fruit traders and middlemen who are coming in from different parts of the country. Local residential hotels and transport owners are also doing good business.
While growers have little or no margin in hand after marketing paddy and jute, melon growers have pocketed three to four times of their production cost.
Sarwar Hossain, a watermelon farmer from the Panchagarh Sadar upazila, said he had cultivated the fruit on 20 acres of land and had spent around Tk8 lakh.
“I have already sold watermelon worth Tk12 lakh and I hope to earn about Tk25 lakh this season,” he said.
Nurul Islam, a farmer from the Najirganj area, said he had harvested about 2,000 watermelons from three bighas of land and earned Tk50,000 while his production cost was less than Tk15,000.
He said more farmers will begin to grow melons if they are provided with credit facilities by the bank.
“Cultivation of watermelon is more profitable than paddy here and I think this can change the lot of the poor people here,” said Nuruzzaman of the Bammatol village in the Sadar upazila.
Saiful Islam, another farmer from the Mirzapur union under the Atowari upazila, also cultivated watermelon on five acres of land.
“I hope to earn around Tk7 lakh this year if there are no natural disasters,” he said.
While visiting different areas of the district a few days ago, this correspondent saw wholesalers from Noakhali, Comilla and other places crowding the fields to buy watermelon.
“Successful campaign for crop diversification, backed by improved seeds, techniques and pesticides, resulted in this year’s miracle,” said Md Abdul Matin, sadar upazila agriculture officer.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) are motivating farmers to cultivate the fruit on their land on a large scale to meet the demands of the people and benefit the growers economically, he added.
Md Nazrul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension, said at least 2,000 hectares of land were brought under watermelon cultivation this year in all five upazilas of the district with a production target of 80,000 tonnes of watermelon.
