College student Monjurul Ahsan has drawn attention by growing hybrid cucumbers with mulching, using his will, talent and hard work. He is the son of the late Mostafizur Rahman of Shikarpur village in Sharsha upazila, Jashore, and his bumper crop has already made the method known locally.

A twelfth-grade student at Government Birshreshtha Nur Mohammad Degree College, Monjurul began growing cucumbers on 50 decimals of fallow land beside his home in early February. The work now employs five to seven previously jobless people.

After training with Agro One Ltd in Bogura, he sowed Sabira cucumber seed. Beds were made, chemical and organic fertilisers applied, and the field covered with polythene mulch, which protects soil quality even in heavy rain and lowers production costs. Sabira flowers within 35 days of planting and yields well until 65 days, while other hybrid cucumbers take 75 to 80 days, so it yields more in less time.

Demand and prices for cucumber are high during Ramadan, with wholesale prices around 70 to 80 taka this season, and he hopes they will hold. With support from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), he believes he could do even better.

Sharsha upazila agriculture officer Protap Mondal said vegetables were grown on 1,650 hectares in the upazila this season, including 50 hectares of cucumber. Mulching is a modern method that needs less fertiliser and irrigation, reduces disease and is the best way to control weeds. He said he had heard about Monjurul and planned to visit his field soon.

Source: Jagonews24 (reported by Md Jamal Hossain). First published in Bengali on The Agro News.