Young farmer Mrityunjoy Mondal of Chhotobond village in Dumuria upazila, Khulna, has surprised people by making jaggery from watermelon for the first time, with help from the agriculture department. With support from upazila agriculture officer Md Mosaddek Hossain, he has grown watermelon successfully for three years in a row since 2019.

Watermelon is a high-value crop, but some fruits are small or misshapen and fail grading. Known as "cat", these do not sell and are often left in the field, where they may rot in the rain. Without any machinery, using purely local methods, Mrityunjoy cuts these melons, removes the red flesh, strains the juice through a net and boils it on a stove to make "togur" (watermelon jaggery). Made naturally, it is very tasty and keeps for a long time.

"Watermelon juice is sweet and thin, so I thought jaggery could be made from it, and I succeeded," he said. He made about three kilograms and shared it with neighbours and the upazila agriculture officer, who all praised it; many wanted to buy it at 300 taka a kilogram, and he plans to produce more.

Md Mosaddek Hossain called it a great achievement. The jaggery industry is shrinking as palm and date trees and the tappers who work them decline. The coastal saline area suits watermelon, but farmers often do not get fair prices in season and undersized fruit does not sell. Making jaggery commercially from such melons would give farmers fair value and reduce waste, he said.

Source: Amader Shomoy. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.