Favourable weather this year has brought a bumper crop of early snake gourd (chichinga) to the chars of Bhola, where the vegetable is known locally as "rekha" or "reha". With little disease or pest attack, farmers did not have to spend much on their fields, and they are now getting higher prices in both wholesale and retail markets. Farmers are hoping for much bigger profits than in the past few years.

A visit to Majher Char in Kachia union of Bhola Sadar upazila and Madanpur char in Daulatkhan upazila found that, as every year, farmers in various chars of Bhola have grown early snake gourd from the winter season.

This year, with soil and weather favourable, disease and pest attack was low, so less fertiliser and pesticide was used, and farmers got higher yields at lower cost.

Md Abul Kamal, a farmer on Madanpur char in Madanpur union of Daulatkhan upazila, said he has grown early snake gourd there since 2016, and this year planted 160 decimals.

Md Abdul Rashid, a farmer at Majher Char in Kachia union, Bhola Sadar, said he grew snake gourd on 2 acres this year at a total cost of about Tk 3 lakh. So far he has sold about Tk 4 lakh worth, and he said the crop still in the field should fetch roughly Tk 2 lakh more.

Another Madanpur char farmer, Md Israfil, said there was less fog this winter, and with favourable soil and weather, disease and pest attack was low, so less fertiliser and pesticide was needed. "Our costs were lower this year, but the yield was much higher than in other years," he said.

Md Shafiqul Islam, another farmer at Majher Char, said early snake gourd prices were low last year so he could not make much profit. This year it sells at Tk 40 a kg wholesale and Tk 50 a kg retail, and with good prices every farmer growing early snake gourd has profited.

Md Hasan Warisul Kabir, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Bhola, said snake gourd is mainly a summer vegetable, but although early snake gourd has been grown in Bhola's chars for many years, cultivation is rising every year. The DAE provides farmers with advice, training and various inputs, and as a result both the area and production in Bhola have increased.

According to the DAE in Bhola, snake gourd was grown on 1,075 hectares across the district's seven upazilas in the early and summer seasons, with a yield of 13 tonnes per hectare. This year 1,200 hectares have been planted so far, and the department expects the area to double from last year.

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