Squash, a foreign vegetable, is being grown on a trial basis in Raninagar, Naogaon. Squash farmer Sourav Khandaker is happy to have had a good yield in his first attempt, with support from the agriculture department.

According to the agriculture office, squash is mainly a winter vegetable of European countries. It is tasty and nutritious, much like sweet pumpkin, and does well in sandy loam soil. Each plant bears around 14 to 15 fruits in about two and a half months after planting. It looks rather like the local bangi melon and tastes like sweet pumpkin. The vegetable's original home is Australia. Although squash is being grown in the upazila for the first time, demand and prices in the market have been good.

Sourav Khandaker of Simba village in the upazila was encouraged to try the crop after watching a YouTube report on squash farming. He bought 100 grams of seed from Bogura and planted it on three katha of land as a trial. Within 35 days of transplanting, the plants began bearing several fruits. Once each squash reached about 1 kg, Sourav began selling them at the local market, where squash is now selling at Tk 20 to 25 a kg.

On the 3 decimals of land, Sourav has so far spent about "3-4 hundred" taka, as the report puts it, on care, seed and fertiliser. The profit is much higher by comparison, he said, so he will expand the area under the crop in future.

Upazila agriculture officer Md Shahidul Islam, an agriculturist, said: "Sourav is a successful squash grower. Squash is a highly profitable vegetable that needs little space and little labour. We have been giving Sourav advice and support throughout. Anyone else interested in growing this vegetable can come to us for advice and help."

Source: Dhaka Tribune. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.