Fortune smiles on melon farmers in Patuakhali
Farmers plucking watermelons from a field at Aamkhola village in Galachipa upazila of Patuakhali. The coastal district saw a profuse yield of the juicy summer fruit this season.Photo: STAR
Farmers in charlands are all smiles due to bumper production and good price of watermelon. They are now marketing the juicy summer fruit. Traders of the country are buying watermelon from the fields and taking those to capital Dhaka and other places by trucks, cargos and even passengers launches. Farmers said fortune smiled on them as the price is also satisfactory this year. Sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension here said, at least 10,250 acres were brought under watermelon cultivation this year in all seven upazilas of the district. The areas include 7,000 acres in Galachipa upazila and 2,905 acres in Kalapara upazila. These two upazilas are most suitable for watermelon cultivation because of soil condition and atmosphere there, agri officials said. The production may cross 3.50 lakh tons this season, they said. Soils deemed fit for cultivation of watermelon should be sandy and must have sufficient water in it and Galachipa has all those to produce the fruit easily, said agriculture officer Fazlul Haque. Local farmers feel encouraged to cultivate watermelon as it is more profitable than paddy, he added. Alamgir Hossain, a watermelon farmer of Baher Char in Galachipa upazila told this correspondent that he cultivated the fruit on 14 acres spending around Tk 1.5 lakh. "I have already sold watermelon worth Tk 7-8 lakh and I hope to earn about Tk 28 lakh this season," he said. Shah Alam Howlader, another farmer at Char Kazal under the upazila, also cultivated watermelon on 15 acres of land. "I hope to earn around Tk 20 lakh this year if there is no natural disasters like tornado or storm," he said. "We are very happy due to bumper production of the fruit in the area", he added. Cultivation of watermelon is more profitable than paddy cultivation here and I think this can change the lot of the poor people here, said Sanu Sarif of Naluabagi village. "I will earn about Tk 20 lakh this year, over Tk 5 lakh more than last year's”, Sanu added. While visiting the areas a few days ago, this correspondent saw wholesalers from Dhaka and other places were crowding the fields to buy watermelon.
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