Bumper yield of pumpkin in Hakaluki haor

Kulaura (Moulvibazar) Correspondent :
During the monsoon season, Hakaluki is full of fish sanctuaries. Hakaluki provide food for the common people as vegetable cultivation in summer and winter and boro cultivation in boro season. This Hakaluki field is the only means of livelihood for many farmers, workers, fishermen. This year along with Boro Paddy, almonds, bhutra and pumpkin have been cultivated .. Many farmers have benefited from growingt pumpkin (gourd) as bumper production has been achieved.
About 94 hectares of land in different areas of Juri Upazila have cultivated pumpkin.
 Almost all of it revolves around Hakaluki Hao. Farmers said that they are turning to pumpkin cultivation because of low cost and high profit. Farmers’ hardships have been successful as they marketed at certain times and got fair prices. As the weather is favorable, the farmers have brought the sale of sweet pumpkin to the market almost to the end.
Atiqur Rahman, Alamgir Hossain are farmers of Belagao village in the upazila, said that it costs 7-8 thousand taka to cultivate sweet pumpkin on about 2 bigha of land. Cultivation of pumpkin is less difficult. This year yield is better than other years. Traders buy sweet pumpkin from here at wholesale price every day. It has been sold for about 40-50 thousand rupees. Kamal Mia and Malu Mia of Belagao village cultivated sweet pumpkin on the most land. They sold sweet pumpkins worth around 2 lakh 80 thousand to 3 lakh rupees.
Juri Upazila Agriculture Officer Mohammad Jaseem Uddin said that pumpkin has been cultivated in 94 hectares of land in the upazila. Growers are very happy with the bumper crop of sweet pumpkins. Among the farmers, technical advisory support is provided to the farmers at the field level through the Directorate of Agricultural Extension.
The agriculture official also said that besides sweet pumpkin, farmers have cultivated almonds on about 15 hectares of land and bhutra on 20 hectares of land in Hakaluki. All types of crops have been good as the weather has been favourable.