Some young farmers of Thakurgaon district are moving towards success by cultivating watermelon in mulchin method leaving behind the ancient idea of watermelon cultivation.
A journalist and a university student have planted this exceptional watermelon at the wrong time. Their success is inspiring others to cultivate watermelon at the wrong time.
Watermelon saplings are usually planted in the area in winter. Simultaneously 20/25 Bighas of land are cultivated commercially. Layers of watermelons fall to the ground like stones. The watermelon is sold in the summer.
However, Al Mamun Chowdhury, a journalist from Haripur in Thakurgaon, planted watermelon saplings in the rainy season. When the plants grew big, he built a platform to keep them from hanging on the ground.
After 40-45 days of care, his land is now adorned with attractive colored watermelons. The Black Baby and Golden Crown varieties of watermelon now weigh 2.5 to 3 kg each. If he weighs 4/5 kg in 60 days, he will sell it. Journalist Al Mamun Chowdhury said, “I have been a journalist for a long time. It is not possible to be financially successful by doing journalism at the upazila level. So I concentrated on agriculture. I used to cultivate watermelon in winter. After learning from YouTube, I have grown watermelons this year”.
“I have spent Tk 90 thousand to cultivate watermelon in one acre of land. At present the weight of each watermelon is 2.5 to 3 kg. I hope to earn Tk 4 to 5 lakh by selling the watermelons in 60 days”, he added.
Seeing his success, many local youths were inspired to cultivate watermelon at an inopportune time too. Shahin Alam, a student of Jagannath University's social welfare department, along with his cousin Manik has been cultivating watermelons on 20 acres of land. Colorful watermelons are lying in their orchard in Kamarpukur village of the upazila. Excluding expenses, they are expecting to earn lakhs of rupees. Shahin Alam, a student of the university, said, “I came home when all the educational institutions of the country were closed due to the global epidemic. I was spending a lot of leisure time. I was inspired to watch watermelon cultivation in summer by watching it on YouTube. The yield has been good. I hope I will make a profit of lakhs of rupees excluding expenses”.
In this regard, the Deputy Director of the District Agriculture Extension Department, agriculturist Abu Taher said, Thakurgaon district, which is rich in agriculture, is moving forward towards improvement day by day. Such university students named Shaheen and Mamun are hoping for success by cultivating watermelon at the wrong time.
In Haripur upazila of the district, about one hectare of land has been planted with untimely watermelon. Farmers are hoping to make profit by cultivating watermelon named Buck Baby and Golden Crown. Many people will come forward to cultivate watermelon in the district at an inopportune time if they get a fair price for their produce.
