Watermelon farming on Mirsarai's chars grows from 145 to 1,200 acres

Commercial watermelon farming on the chars of Mirsarai upazila in Chattogram grew several times over in three years. Jagonews24 reported on 26 March 2025 that, according to the upazila agriculture office, about 1,200 acres were under watermelon that season in Ichhakhali, Moghadia, Mayani and Saherkhali unions. Farming had begun on 145 acres in 2022. A production target of about 40,000 tonnes was set, and farmers hoped to sell watermelons worth Tk 100 crore if the weather held.

Mirsarai is an upazila of Chattogram district. Its main river is the Feni, and the Sandwip Channel of the Bay of Bengal forms its southern edge; the watermelons grow on the coastal chars. The watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a trailing vine of the gourd family, grown for its large fruit with sweet, juicy flesh that is usually deep red to pink.

Agriculture office figures put the area at 145 acres in 2022, 175 acres in 2023 and 475 acres in 2024, rising to about 1,200 acres in 2025. By late March some fields were already being harvested, but full-scale selling was still some days away.

Jugantor, citing the agriculture department on 21 March 2025, gave the same picture in hectares: 190 hectares the previous year and 480 hectares that year. Upazila agriculture officer Pratap Chandra Roy told Jugantor that the yield target was 30 to 40 tonnes a hectare and that he expected about 20,000 tonnes, to be sold by April and May. To Jagonews24 he said 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes would be produced if the weather and prices were good, so the two reports carried different production estimates. Jugantor listed the varieties grown as Victor Sugar, Ocean Sugar, Gori, Banglalink, Backberry, local and other types.

According to Jagonews24, Sirajul Islam of Subarnachar upazila in Noakhali was the first to grow watermelons in Ichhakhali, in 2022. Most of the char land had lain idle in the rabi (dry winter) season. Seeing the loam soil, the growers first had it tested in a laboratory, then leased land from local owners for three months at Tk 15,000 an acre and sowed the seed. Good yields drew more growers the next year, and the crop spread to four unions. About 100 farmers, all from Noakhali, grew watermelons in 2025, with some 2,000 labourers working the fields.

Prothom Alo had reported on 16 April 2024 that 190 hectares were under watermelon in the upazila that season, 130 of them on the Kazir Taluk char. The agriculture officer said then that watermelons worth an average of Tk 20 lakh a day were leaving that char for cities across the country. A local resident told the paper the char had been acquired by the government for an industrial city.

Farmer Abu Jafar told Jagonews24: "This time I have grown watermelons on about 60 acres. The yield is good." Ismail Hossain Sumon said he and four partners had spent about Tk 40 lakh on 35 acres and hoped to sell Tk 1 crore worth if all went well. Not every field was doing as well. Sumon, a labourer on Belal Hossain's 8 acres, said: "We planted the seedlings a little late this time. The fruit is still small. We cannot give enough water."

Farmer Iqbal Hossain said the area offered good facilities for farming and marketing, and that the large, sweet fruit was in demand. Wholesalers from Dhaka, Chattogram, Noakhali and elsewhere had begun buying straight from the fields. Upazila agriculture officer Pratap Chandra Roy said: "Watermelon farming takes more work, but brings three times the profit."

Photo: Milli Tami / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, Jugantor, Prothom Alo, Wikipedia