Farmers in Mirsarai upazila of Chattogram are profiting from growing bottle gourd, a winter vegetable. They are happy to be getting higher prices than in other years, and bottle gourd cultivation is gradually spreading across the upazila.

Bottle gourd has been grown on hilly and flat land in the upazila's 16 unions and two municipalities. The weather is favourable, and the necessary farm inputs are easy to find, so farmers are making use of these advantages. Land that once grew only rice now grows bottle gourd and sweet pumpkin after the rice harvest.

Many people in Karerhat, Hinguli, Durgapur, Mirsarai Sadar, Khaiyachhara, Maghadia, Wahedpur and Saherkhali unions have become self-reliant by growing bottle gourd. Farmers say it is more profitable than other vegetables.

Md Jasim Uddin, a farmer of Madhyam Wahedpur, said: "I started growing bottle gourd on 32 decimals of leased land. It cost us Tk 17,000, and I have already sold about Tk 50,000 worth of gourds. I will be able to sell for a few more days."

Golam Mortuza, a farmer in Ambaria, said that because it is a hilly area, the sticks and poles needed to build trellises for bottle gourd are close at hand, so building trellises and tending the field cost little. There is no need to take the gourds to market; wholesalers collect them from beside the field.

Farmer Imam Hossain said: "At the start of the season I sold each gourd wholesale for Tk 60-70. Now I have been selling each gourd wholesale for Tk 35-40. We are happy to get good prices."

The most bottle gourd in the upazila is grown in Wahedpur union, on about 35 percent of the land. The big wholesale vegetable market here is held at Baradarogarhat, from where wholesalers buy and take the produce by truck to different places.

Mirsarai Upazila Agriculture Officer Pratap Chandra Roy said: "A lot of bottle gourd is grown in this upazila in winter. Many farmers have also profited from growing it in summer. In winter, bottle gourd is grown on about 270 acres. Those coming into bottle gourd farming are being given all kinds of help by the agriculture office."

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