Farmers in Magura have been farming summer watermelon commercially for the last few years due to a recent agricultural trend that has led to significant financial gains. Although it is still not very common, farmers in four upazilas in the district are becoming more interested in growing this watermelon in a variety of locations.
Summer watermelon is successfully grown on 0.15 acres of Mobarak Hossain's 0.36 acres of land in the Amuria hamlet of Magura Sadar Upazila. He has invested a lot of time on farming in addition to his career as a teacher. He planted this summer watermelon on 0.15 acres of the 0.36 acres of land with the thought of how to grow more crops on less land utilizing current agriculture techniques. He is growing taro root, chili, and brinjal on the remaining acreage. He invested almost Tk 55,000 in the growth of this crop in total. He expects to earn at least Tk 40,000 from selling watermelons alone.
Mobarak Hossain employed the mulching method, resulting more than 450 melons have grown on 0.15 acre of the land.
Elaborating on his cultivation strategy, he said, "I'm relatively new to farming. Because of that I was late to plant seedlings in the field. The lifespan of this watermelon plant is 100 days. If seven-day-old seedlings are planted, the plants start to bear flowers and fruits within 20 to 25 days. The fruit becomes ripe for consumption 70 days post-flowering."
He said that he got full cooperation and advice from Sadar Upazila Agriculture Department in this cultivation. "Given my limited experience, I embarked on this watermelon cultivation. The initial yield was promising, further motivating me to increase this cultivation in the future," Rahman expressed.
Witnessing Mobarak's success, fellow farmers like Shamim Hossain and Abdus Salam have been inspired to follow his footstep. Hossain shared, "We were unfamiliar with watermelon cultivation until we witnessed my uncle's progress. We intend to cultivate ourselves." Salam also said, "Seeing the thriving watermelon field was inspiring. Its profitability is evident, and
I'm contemplating cultivating watermelons next year with the support of the local agriculture office."
As the market price of summer watermelon is high the upazila agriculture office is making all efforts to encourage the farmers. Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Humayun Kabir said, "Sadar
Upazila Agriculture Office is providing all kinds of technical support to the farmers to increase summer watermelon cultivation. We have been providing technical assistance to the farmers on how to produce this crop and when to take care of it so that the farmers can be benefitted more from it. With the help of the District Agriculture Office, interest in this watermelon cultivation is increasing day by day among farmers".
