Home ›› 21 Nov 2021 ›› Nation
Farmers in Khulna, particularly the sandy coastal areas, who were previously involved in shrimp farming are gradually opting for short-term watermelon cultivation as it provides a higher return with minimal effort and investment.
About 7,512 hectares of land in Dacope, Paikgachha, Koyra, Batiaghata and Dumuria upazilas have been brought under watermelon cultivation this season, said the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) sources.
The farmers are cultivating watermelon in the off season either in their barren cropland, which remains uncultivated after the Aman paddy season, or in fish enclosures. They said watermelon was cultivated in about 7,000 hectares of land last year.
Watermelon cultivated in the off season needs only 80 days to mature, requires a lesser amount of fertiliser, pesticides, and water, and is immune to different viral diseases, said farmers.
They also said the shrimp market had taken a downward turn for various reasons, such as price fluctuations in the international market, diseases, adverse weather, river erosion, flood, and mainly the Covid-19 pandemic.
That is why shrimp farmers are gradually opting for other economic opportunities, such as Aman paddy and watermelon cultivation, they added.
Uttam Mandal and Kanai Mandal, farmers of the Sutarkhali area of Dacope upazila, said they had opted for watermelon cultivation due to various uncertainties and a low return from shrimp farming.
“Vast areas, which previously used to be fish enclosures, are being turned into watermelon cropland in order to reap a quick return,” said Uttam.
“We were encouraged by last year’s results and began to cultivate watermelon in larger plots as it brought more profit than other traditional crops, including paddy and sesame,” said Kanai, adding that when the Aman season would come to an end, much of the land used to remain uncultivated.
Mehedi Hasan, an agricultural officer of Dacope, said about 3,400 hectares of cropland in nine unions of the upazila had been brought under watermelon cultivation.
“Around 6,000 farmers of the upazila are involved in this,” he added.
He further said farmers invest around Tk 15,000 to Tk 16,000 per bigha of cropland and get a return of Tk 30,000 to Tk 70,000.
Md Hafizur Rahman, deputy director of Khulna DAE, told The Business Post, “There is so much interest in watermelon cultivation since it requires less investment and labour while being more profitable than other crops.”
