Minhaj Uddin is a madrasa student in Bochaganj upazila of Dinajpur. While other young men his age are busy only with their studies, he has become an entrepreneur growing coloured watermelons. His fruit is now sold in superstores in three districts, and demand is rising because of its distinctive taste and aroma.

Having passed his Alim exam at a madrasa, Minhaj became a lakhpati from his very first watermelon crop. This time he hopes to earn Tk 3 lakh to Tk 3.5 lakh. He is the younger son of Golam Mostafa of Chandipur village in No 6 Ranagaon union of Bochaganj upazila.

After finishing his Alim exams, Minhaj collected two packets of watermelon seed and started growing them as a hobby. A good first harvest raised his interest in farming. He then contacted the upazila agriculture office and, on the advice of its officials, took up coloured watermelon on 50 decimals of land.

With his own money he grew two varieties on trellises using the mulching method. He sourced seed from outside for a yellow watermelon called Surjo Dim and grew it on his own initiative, while a black variety called Marcelo was grown under the agriculture office's government single fruit orchard demonstration.

Minhaj spent about Tk 80,000 on the crop, including leasing the 50 decimals. He has already started selling Tk 2 lakh worth of watermelons. Superstores in Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh currently buy them from him at Tk 70-80 a kg, and if yields and prices hold, he expects to sell about Tk 3 lakh worth.

"I started growing watermelons with two packets of seed as a hobby," Minhaj said. "After a good first harvest I felt it was possible to do this commercially alongside my studies. The total cost, including leasing 50 decimals, was about Tk 80,000. I'm now selling at Tk 70-80 a kg."

Urging others to become entrepreneurs, he said: "I'm studying at a madrasa and farming alongside. Those who have studied and are idling about can contact the agriculture office and become entrepreneurs like me. There is a chance to stand on your own feet through farming."

Asked about marketing, he said: "When I took the first batch of coloured watermelons to the superstores, none of them agreed to buy. Later, when I sold them to wholesalers at Bahadur Bazar in Dinajpur town, they saw the demand in the market, tracked me down and started buying. Now the superstores of Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh are my customers."

Dalim, a schoolboy, works on Minhaj's watermelon plot. He told Jagonews: "I work in the garden alongside my studies and earn something. Wanting to become an entrepreneur myself, I'm trying to learn how watermelons are grown, about pests and diseases, and about marketing."

Dinajpur town fruit traders Liton Hossain and Masud Rana told Jagonews: "There is hardly any fruit being produced in Dinajpur at the moment. Coloured watermelons arriving now have created demand. Because it is a dry area, the district's watermelons are unique in colour, sweetness, taste and aroma, so there is demand for them across the country."

According to the Bochaganj upazila agriculture office, a government single fruit orchard demonstration is being implemented in the 2025-26 fiscal year through the Ranagaon Sustainable Agricultural Development Farmers' Group under the Sustainable Agricultural Development Project for the Dinajpur region. The black Marcelo watermelon was grown under it.

Upazila Agriculture Officer Nayan Kumar Saha said: "Under the project, the seed, fertiliser and other inputs Minhaj Uddin needed for the trellis watermelon demonstration were supplied by the upazila office of the Department of Agricultural Extension. The sub-assistant agriculture officer gave him technical advice."

"Minhaj Uddin's initiative is truly commendable," he added. "Though a madrasa student, he has taken up watermelon farming with modern methods alongside his studies, growing a new variety on his own initiative and another under the agriculture office's advice and demonstration. Educated young people can take up farming not only as a profession but as a route to entrepreneurship. If they use modern technology and the agriculture department's advice, there are good prospects for them in farming."

Bochaganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Maruf Hasan said: "Instead of waiting for jobs, young people can use the agriculture department's advice and modern technology to take up farming as a field for entrepreneurship. Initiatives like this by educated young people such as Minhaj will create new possibilities for local agriculture."

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