• Hopes of marketing watermelons worth Tk 100 crore
• Production target of 40,000 tonnes
• Cultivation first began on 145 acres in 2022
• About 1,200 acres cultivated this year

Commercial watermelon farming has brought a revolution to the chars of Mirsarai in Chattogram. A production target of about 40,000 tonnes has been set this year. If the weather stays favourable, farmers hope to market watermelons worth Tk 100 crore. In three years the area under cultivation has grown several times over.

According to the Mirsarai upazila agriculture office, watermelons have been grown on about 1,200 acres this year in Ichhakhali, Moghadia, Mayani and Saherkhali unions. The area was 475 acres in 2024, 175 acres in 2023 and 145 acres in 2022. Some fields are already being harvested and marketed, but full-scale marketing will take a little longer.

Commercial watermelon farming began in the upazila in 2022 on 145 acres. Sirajul Islam of Subarnachar upazila in Noakhali was the first to grow watermelons in Ichhakhali. The yield was good, so several more followed the next year, and it then spread to four unions. Everyone farming here is from Noakhali. About 100 farmers have grown the crop this year, and some 2,000 labourers work in the fields.

Growers say the soil and weather of Mirsarai suit watermelons, so Noakhali farmers came looking and are farming here. Watermelon farmer Abu Jafar said: "This time I have grown watermelons on about 60 acres. The yield is good. I hope that if the weather stays favourable I can sell well."

Belal Hossain has grown watermelons on 8 acres. His labourer Sumon said: "We planted the seedlings a little late this time. The fruit is still small. We cannot give enough water, and the land badly needs watering."

Another farmer, Ismail Hossain Sumon, said: "Five of us together have grown watermelons on 35 acres, at a cost of about Tk 40 lakh. The yield is good and we will start selling in a day or two. If all goes well, sales of Tk 1 crore are possible. Abdul Kader Majhi, Manik, Suja Majhi and many others have also grown watermelons."

Watermelon farmer Iqbal Hossain said: "There are facilities here for farming and marketing, and the soil is loam, so I grew watermelons. They are large and tasty, so there is demand in the market. Wholesalers from Dhaka, Chattogram, Noakhali and other areas have started coming to buy straight from the fields."

Local people said that every year in the rabi season most of the char land in Ichhakhali, Moghadia, Mayani and Saherkhali unions used to lie empty. With loam soil and suitable conditions, a man named Siraj took the initiative to grow watermelons in 2022. They first had the soil tested in a laboratory, then took land from local people on a three-month sharecropping lease at Tk 15,000 an acre and sowed watermelon seeds.

Anwar Hossain of Kazirtaluk village in Moghadia union said: "Here rice is grown on triple-crop land. Then the watermelon farmers from Subarnachar take land from local owners on a three-month lease at Tk 15,000 an acre. We are always helping them in various ways."

Upazila agriculture officer Pratap Chandra Roy said: "The area under cultivation is growing steadily. This time 1,200 acres have been cultivated. Watermelon farming takes more work, but brings three times the profit. Farmers from Subarnachar upazila are growing watermelons here. If the weather and market prices are good, 35,000-40,000 tonnes of watermelon will be produced, worth about Tk 100 crore."

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