Shahabaz Ali's Watermelon Field

About

Shahabaz Ali, a college lecturer from Moharajpur village in Koyra upazila of Khulna, grows monsoon-season watermelon alongside his teaching. Although the usual watermelon season was over, he took up the crop on the advice of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, encouraged by Zahid Hasan, a scientific assistant at the Koyra agricultural research division. In early June 2022 he sowed 600 BARI-1 watermelon seeds on 40 decimals of land as a trial and began harvesting 80 days after sowing. The fruit, hanging from trellises, averages 6 to 8 kg each and sells wholesale at Tk 50 to 55 per kg. He tends the field for two hours in the morning and again in the afternoon after college. Because he grew large, tasty watermelons in saline soil, the upazila agriculture officer and the chief scientific officer of the institute's on-farm research division visited his field. BARI watermelon-1 is not a hybrid, so farmers can save its seed themselves.

Products and services

• BARI-1 monsoon watermelon

  Tk 50–55 / kg

  Trellis-grown, 6–8 kg each on average; wholesale price

Prices as given by the owner; ask before you buy.

Address and hours