No crop had ever grown on the vast seaside sand bar of Rangabali upazila in Patuakhali; it used to lie fallow. Thanks to the efforts of Hasi Begum's family from Jahajmara village, the sand is now green, and the once-barren land is full of watermelons. The yield and prices have brought smiles to the family's faces.

Jahajmara village is in Maudubi union of the upazila. In this seaside village, Hasi Begum (35) and her family live in a government housing project. She, her husband and children used to work as day labourers, but with help from the upazila agriculture department the family now grows watermelon on the sand. Various crops had been grown on sand bars elsewhere in the country before, and on that basis the upazila agriculture department encouraged the village to grow watermelon.

Hasi Begum said she started growing early watermelon on 3 acres with Tk 30,000 from NGOs and local people. She built a shack in the field and, with her husband Md Faruk (42) and son Rasel (25), tended the crop day and night. They dug a deep well in the seaside sand and irrigated the watermelons with fresh water drawn from it.

Growing watermelon on her 3 acres cost Tk 1.5 lakh. Because the crop was planted early, the watermelons also came in early, and she has already sold Tk 2 lakh 20 thousand worth.

According to the upazila agriculture department, 25 farmers like Hasi Begum have grown early watermelon on 35 hectares on the seashore of Jahajmara village this year. Md Jewel, sub-assistant agriculture officer in Rangabali upazila, said farming in Patuakhali district depends largely on aman rice. Usually farmers in the area start growing watermelon from January after harvesting aman in December, and in April watermelons are picked and sold. But at Jahajmara these farmers began growing early watermelon in December. Apart from Jahajmara, watermelon has been grown on a total of 7,560 hectares in Rangabali upazila this year.

On a visit to Jahajmara beach last Wednesday, farmers were seen picking watermelons and piling them up for sale, while traders from Dhaka bought them and loaded them onto trawlers on the shore.

Sumon Dalal (28) was irrigating one field. He said he had grown watermelon on 1 acre 20 decimals this year at a cost of Tk 60,000 and had sold Tk 1 lakh worth. In another field farmer Faruk Howlader (35) was irrigating with his wife. He said he had grown watermelon on someone else's uncultivated land and dug a large well beside the field, drawing water from it to tend the crop.

Rafiqul Islam, a trader who had come from Dhaka to buy watermelons, said watermelons he bought for Tk 50 to Tk 75 each last season now cost Tk 80 to Tk 110. Because they reach the market early, there is demand, he said.

According to the upazila agriculture office, the upazila has 35,777 hectares of cultivable land in the rabi season. Last rabi season 32,583 hectares were cultivated and 3,194 hectares lay fallow. Rangabali upazila agriculture officer and agriculturist Monirul Islam told Prothom Alo the biggest problem at Jahajmara is water, but the farmers have solved it by digging wells. Land where no crop used to grow is now producing crops.

Because it is a sand bar, farmers must tend the crop constantly and water it on time, he said. Giving the necessary water creates plenty of moisture in the soil, which helps the watermelons grow, and the strong daytime sun brightens their colour. It is the combination of the farmers' labour and the natural environment that has turned the seaside sand bar green.

Source: Prothom Alo. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.