Despite cultivating sweet pumpkins at low cost, farmers in Thakurgaon are unable to reap good profit from the produced pumpkins as the yield has not been so good this year due to adverse weather conditions.
After picking the potatoes, the farmers of the district plant sweet pumpkins on the same land to reduce the demand of fertilizer. Later, with only a little bit of care along with irrigation and spray a good yield of pumpkin can be received.
However, for the lack of good seeds and adverse weather conditions this year, the size of pumpkins has not been as large as expected. Due to the smaller size of the pumpkins, their demand has also decreased.
As a result the farmers of this district are facing a lot of trouble t sell the pumpkins. Whereas the farmers hoped to collect an excellent profit from pumpkin farming this year they are now depressed with the yield and price of it.
Meanwhile, sweet pumpkins cannot be left at the land as water is gathering in the land during the ongoing rainy season. So, the pumpkins are being picked up from the field hurriedly.
Usually the pumpkins produced in the district are transported to other districts of the country after meeting the local demand. However, this year farmers are afraid that they might not be able to meet even local demands.
According to the Thakurgaon district office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), sweet pumpkins were planted on 950 hectares of land across the district with a total production of 23,000 metric tonnes of pumpkins this time.
Meanwhile, last year sweet pumpkins were planted on 1,219 hectares of land with a production of 2,826 metric tonnes there.
Although the yield has not been as good as last year they are still trying to transport the pumpkins outside the district, the DAE sources added.
Farmers say prices have plummeted just as pumpkins have not grown in size due to poor seed quality, intense heat and torrential rain.
There is not much demand for the smaller pumpkins and they cannot get a good price for the pumpkins in the local markets.
In this regard, Deputy Director of Thakurgaon DAE agriculturist Abu Hossain said that the planting and yield of sweet pumpkins in the district has decreased this time as compared to last year due to unfavorable weather. Farmers would be more interested in cultivating pumpkins if the prices were good in the market, he added.