Sweet pumpkin is usually thought of as a winter crop, but Manajir Rahman Mamun, a farmer from Rohanpur in Gomostapur upazila of Chapainawabganj, has had a good harvest and good prices growing it in summer and the monsoon. He planted the 'Behula' variety on 26 bighas at Niskanipur village in Radhanagar union.

Mamun said he has spent about Tk 500,000 so far and has already sold pumpkins worth Tk 920,000 from the field. Plenty of fruit is still in the field, and he expects his earnings to rise by several hundred thousand taka more by the end of the season.

Wholesale buyers are collecting the pumpkins straight from the field and supplying wholesale markets in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country. Mamun has grown pumpkins for several years, but said this season's summer and monsoon prices and bumper yield are his biggest success yet.

Twenty to thirty local labourers work in his field every day, tending the crop, harvesting and marketing. Farmers and visitors come daily to see the pumpkins on the vines out of season, and other farmers in the area are becoming interested in off-season crops after seeing his results.

Dr Mohammad Muhebbullah Ibne Haque, marketing manager of East-West Seed Bangladesh Private Limited, said the 'Behula' variety can yield well even in summer with the right choice of variety, modern technology and proper care.

Dr Md Sharaf Uddin, chief scientific officer of the Regional Horticulture Research Station in Chapainawabganj, said the idea that pumpkin can only be grown in winter no longer holds: with suitable technology it can be grown successfully in summer and the monsoon, giving farmers a chance to earn more. Gomostapur upazila agriculture officer Saklain Hossain said the agriculture office had given Mamun advice and technical support from the start and is encouraging other farmers to take up off-season pumpkin.

The report is by Dhaka Mail's Chapainawabganj correspondent Md Faruk Hossain.

Source: Dhaka Mail