Land in the haor areas of Netrokona that lay fallow for a hundred years has produced a bumper crop of sweet pumpkin, helped by favourable weather this year. The local agriculture office says about 10,000 pumpkins were produced per hectare. At a rate of 35 tonnes a hectare, about 8,050 tonnes were produced on 250 hectares, with a sale value of about Tk 6 crore. After costs, farmers earned about Tk 5.25 crore.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and local people, several thousand hectares of government land lay fallow in the haors for generations. The land is under water in the monsoon and becomes grazing land in the dry season, a familiar sight to haor people. In recent years, however, the district administration and the agriculture department have brought this land under cultivation. Vast areas are now green. Alongside sweet pumpkin, groundnut, cucumber (khira), sunflower, mustard and many kinds of vegetables are grown. About a hundred unemployed young men have found work, and growers are making ten times their outlay on a plot of land.

According to the agriculture department, about 2,500 hectares of uncultivated land in the district's haors have been brought under cultivation. The local agriculture office supplies fertiliser, seed and other inputs and supervises regularly.

Farmers Ala Uddin, Kashem Mia and Joynal Mia of Jagannathpur village in Khaliajuri upazila said they earned about four times their costs by growing sweet pumpkin on fallow land. There is no work at this time of year, so on the advice of the agriculture department they grew sweet pumpkin, groundnut, cucumber, sunflower and mustard on fallow land around their homes, making several times more profit than from the Boro crop.

Foyez Ahmed of Bagjan village in Madan upazila said: "Instead of staying unemployed after their studies, many in the area have become self-reliant by growing vegetables on fallow government land. Cultivation will be expanded in future. Well-known companies in the country are buying the sweet pumpkins from here directly, which is encouraging farmers further."

Madan Upazila Agriculture Officer Habibur Rahman said: "The fallow land has come under cultivation. With sweet pumpkin, it is possible to earn at least Tk 4 for every Tk 1 spent. About 1,500 tonnes of sweet pumpkin worth about Tk 1.2 crore were produced on about 50 hectares in the upazila. If another 1,000 hectares of fallow haor land can be brought under cultivation, production could rise by 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes, which could earn about Tk 60 crore."

Muhammad Nuruzzaman, deputy director of the district DAE, said: "About 12,000 sweet pumpkins grew per hectare. Spending Tk 30,000 a hectare, the landowner earns more than Tk 2 lakh. Bringing the fallow haor land under cultivation is reducing unemployment on one hand and increasing crop farming on the other."

Netrokona Deputy Commissioner Banani Biswas said: "We gave farmers fallow land and arranged free fertiliser, pesticide and seed for them. The agriculture department advised them regularly, which is why the farmers have profited. Many of them are now self-reliant. Similar initiatives will be taken in future."

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