A farmer has amazed his peers by successfully cultivating quality watermelons—a popular summer fruit—offseason in northern Thakurgaon and subsequently collecting the sweet rewards that followed.
Through the cultivation of an all-year-round watermelon variety of Chinese origin, Giyas Uddin Babu, a farmer of Bokua Bottoala Dulalpara village in Haripur upazila, has inspired other farmers to take up the lucrative enterprise.
Giyas says he has earned a profit of Tk1.25 lakh in just two months after cultivating the variety locally known as “Blackberry” watermelon on 25 decimals of land.
By selling each kilo of the fruit for Tk65-70, Giyas hopes that by the time his remaining watermelons are sold, he will have earned handsome profit.
Giyas says: “There is a high demand for watermelon as it has been cultivated at the beginning of winter. People are even coming to my field to buy it directly. It had cost Tk35,000 to cultivate the fruit on 25 decimals.”
Maruf Hossain, an agriculture officer in the Haripur upazila, said: “Farmer Giyas Uddin Babu has planted seeds of Blackberry watermelon in early August.
“Giyas began by preparing seedbeds with bamboo frameworks and a drainage system while ensuring the use of quality fertilizers.”
“When the fruits grow a little bigger and hang from the bamboo frame, each is cradled in netted bags to prevent it from tumbling down on the ground. Within two months, the fruit becomes ripe and ready for consumption," added Maruf.
Locals Alam, Shaebul and Abdul Aziz said the watermelon is very sweet and tasty. They asked other farmers to cultivate the fruit so that the fruit could be bought at a cheaper price.
Aftab Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension, Thakurgaon, said: “Diligence and meticulousness are required from the planting stage to the picking stage. Giyas’s success has become exemplary in the region.”
