Watermelon has yielded heavily again this year on the isolated chars of Bhola. With favourable soil and weather, there have been fewer disease and pest attacks, and production costs have fallen somewhat compared with other years. The fields full of watermelons have put smiles on farmers' faces, and they are hoping to make good profits. Farmers say they have more success growing watermelon on the chars.

Talks with farmers on various chars, including Rabeyar Char in Bhelumia union and Char Chutkimara in Vedaria union of Sadar upazila, and Char Munshi and Char Bhoiragi in Madanpur of Daulatkhan upazila, show that watermelon has again been grown this year on the isolated chars of Bhola's seven upazilas. Farmers have grown varieties including Big Family, Thai Super, Dragon Super and Dragon King. With favourable soil and weather, the crop is much bigger than in past years. Farmers are cheerfully harvesting and selling, while some are busy with the final tending of their fields.

Md Mahabub Alam, a watermelon farmer on Rabeyar Char in Bhelumia union and a resident of Ahmedpur union in Char Fasson upazila, said the char land is silty. During the monsoon the chars go under with the tides and rise again at the end of the rains. The silt brought by the tides makes the land very suitable for watermelon, and yields are good. Being on the riverside, the cool weather also suits farming and keeps diseases and pest attacks low, which is why char farmers succeed with watermelon.

He said he has again grown watermelon on the chars this year, on about 3 kani of land on Rabeyar Char in Bhelumia, and is happy with the heavy yield.

Md Sahabuddin Faraji, a resident of Ilisha union in Bhola Sadar upazila, said he has grown watermelon on the chars for about 15 to 20 years, every year on the chars of Sadar upazila. This year he has grown it on 40 acres on Rabeyar Char at a cost of about Tk 30 lakh. With few pest attacks, the crop is heavy, and at current market prices he can make a profit of about Tk 25 to 30 lakh. He said he plans to farm more land next year.

Monir Hossain said he has grown watermelon on various chars for about 7 to 8 years, on a different char each year. This time, growing on 3 kani, he spent Tk 7 lakh on land lease, seed, fertiliser, pesticide and labourers' wages. So far he has sold watermelons worth Tk 7.5 lakh in one sale, and the fruit still in the field will fetch another Tk 8 to 9 lakh.

Md Nasim and Md Alauddin, watermelon farmers on Char Munshi in Madanpur union of Daulatkhan upazila, said they grow watermelon every year with loans from various banks and NGOs. Their fields have given a bumper crop, which has made them very happy, and they hope to profit more this year.

They said they had grown watermelon on upland for a few years. Because of disease and pest attacks, some years they lost money, and in others they covered their costs with a little profit. For about 20 years since then they have been growing watermelon on the isolated chars of Bhola Sadar, Daulatkhan, Borhanuddin and Tazumuddin, making good profits every year. They plan to farm about 50 acres next year.

Md Khairul Islam Mallik, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Bhola, said: "With the favourable weather, watermelon fields have yielded heavily. Farmers will earn more this year than in the past few years, and so will grow watermelon on more land in coming years. Our field-level sub-assistant agriculture officers advised them round the clock, which is why farmers' production costs did not rise this time."

He said: "This year watermelon of various varieties has been grown on 13,610 hectares in Bhola's seven upazilas: 925 hectares in Bhola Sadar, 830 in Borhanuddin, 95 in Daulatkhan, 260 in Tazumuddin, 700 in Lalmohan, 10,780 in Char Fasson and 20 in Monpura."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.