Narail monsoon hybrid Bumper yield in watermelon cultivation

Ujjwal Roy, Narail District Representative

In Narail, off-season cultivation of monsoon hybrid varieties of watermelons has put a smile on the face of farmers. Farmers are benefiting from higher yields and better prices at lower costs. Seeing their success, many people have become interested in watermelon cultivation. The agriculture department also said to provide all-round support to the farmers including advice, free fertilizers, seeds, cash assistance in the cultivation of hybrid varieties of watermelon. Ujjwal Roy, Narail district representative said, if you go to the surface, you can see that there are numerous yellow and black watermelons hanging in the loft. In Govindanagar area of ​​Chota Kalia of Kalia Municipality, Char Bill of Bhauri of Salamabad Union, Dutkura Bill of Baisona Union and numerous fish enclosures of Bhaktdanga Bill, one of the largest upazilas, a special variety of Peromasi Watermelon has been planted in lofts.

According to the sources of agriculture office and farmers, 20 hectares of land have been cultivated in monsoon season in Narail this year. Which is more than last year. Farmers are expecting a yield of 15 tonnes per hectare. Among these varieties of watermelons are Asian-2, Satisfied and Black Baby are becoming popular. Among these, Asian-2 are Bangladeshi breeds. Watermelons of these varieties are as beautiful to look at as they are delicious to eat. Especially the Tripti variety of watermelon is more delicious. The cost of this watermelon cultivation is low, only 15-20 thousand per acre, but it is sold for 150 to 200,000 taka. Farmers are also happy as the market price is quite high.

Sheikh Kamal Hossain, a resident of Bhauri Char of Kalia upazila, is an assistant professor in the management department of Navaganga Degree College in the district who is successful in watermelon cultivation. He said, I took hands-on training from Dumuria in Khulna with the help of Upazila Agriculture Department. After that I planted 1400 saplings on the bank of 7 acres of fish enclosure of Gachbaria bill. The total cost is 70 thousand rupees. And this time I hope to sell 3 lakh taka.

Another farmer, Asit Kumar Biswas of Dutkura village in Baison has planted three thousand saplings in Dutkura bill. It cost him 70 thousand rupees. He expects 12,000 kg of watermelon to be sold for Tk 6 lakh.

Pradeep Kumar Barman, Ward No. 6 councilor of Kalia municipality, said that about 8 lakh rupees were spent on planting 10,000 saplings on the banks of 150 bigha fish enclosure. He is expecting the yield of 90 thousand kg of watermelon. If the market price is right, he can make a profit of about 40 lakhs by selling watermelons at the wholesale price of Tk 40-50 per kg.

Kalia upazila agricultural officer agriculturist Eva Mallik said that watermelon is not a seasonal fruit anymore, it can be cultivated all year round. The crop can be completed in a total of 60-70 days after sowing. This off-season watermelon cultivation has been a huge success as the first high-yielding crop in this upazila under the Climate Change Adaptation Project of Khulna Agricultural Zone through Climate Smart Technology. We are trying to expand the cultivation of this crop with technical support from Upazila Agriculture Office, Kalia.

Agriculture Extension Department Kham Bari Narail Deputy Director Agriculturist Md. Ashek Parvez said farmers are successful in off-season watermelon cultivation in Kalia. The Department of Agriculture Extension is providing services to remote areas, remote areas where government services are not easily accessible.