Abdur Saboor, one of the watermelon farmers, said, “Though watermelon cultivation was done last year on an experimental basis, the field was washed away in the initial floods. This year I have cultivated watermelon on 14 acres of land. It cost me INR 600,000-700,000. I expect to harvest 20,000 watermelons this year, which will give me a profit of Tk 600,000-700,000.”
“However, the problem here is marketing. Wholesalers come here and buy watermelons at a low price. If we could sell watermelons in the city, we would have made more profit. More farmers would have come forward to cultivate watermelons,” he said.
The farmers said that watermelon seeds should be sown at the beginning of the Bengali month of Paush. Watermelon can be plucked within four months. Some precautions have to be taken in watermelon cultivation. Make a pit of one and a half feet in 10 inch by 10 inch square in sandy land and put some loamy soil, cow dung manure and DSP in the pit. Have to give Forty grams should be given in each pit. After keeping this for a week, three seeds are sown in a pit. In addition, regular spraying of insecticides has to be done to prevent the attack of insects and rats.