By Albert Fernandes

POINGUINNIM: Following the commissioning of Chapoli dam in Canacona some years back, the command areas at Gulem and Devbhag came under cultivation of crops like paddy, sugarcane, groundnuts and vegetables.

Sooner or later some traders from Ankola and North Canara got attracted to this land having plenty of water and hence ventured into cultivation of water melons.

Seeing such a crop bloom extensively and give good yield, some local farmers like Mr Panglo Gaonkar and Mr Nilesh Komarpant also got inspired and have started engaging in water melon cultivation since the last three years, though on a small scale. They have brought about 1,000-1,500 square metres of land under this cultivation.

Of late, a mechanical engineer turned farmer, Mr Prabhat Amolkar from Khalwadem has brought about 4 acres of land under water melon cultivation along with chillies, cowpea, mug and some cereals. When ‘The Navhind Times’ reporter visited his farm on Wednesday at Khalwadem, Mr Amolkar told this reporter that instead of rabi crop this year, he undertook water melon cultivation on a large scale after having successfully tried it on a trial basis last year. "This has demand in the market today and water melons are sold like hot cakes and hence I took up this cultivation where one can make good money," he said.

He further informed that the Canacona zonal agriculture office supplied him with the water melon seeds free of cost this year due to contingency plan. The zonal agricultural officer, Mr Rajesh Desai informed that regular subsidy can be availed by any farmer to the tune of 50-75 per cent which is mostly given on high-yielding variety and hybrid seeds. He further said that each kg of the most popular variety of water melon seeds costs Rs 1,400 and the variety is called sugar baby; the other variety being arkamanik.

Assistant ZAO, Mr S Agrasani informed that on an average about 30-40 truckloads of water melons can be harvested in an area of one hectare. He further pointed out that the time taken to bear fruit is about 90-95 days and the ideal sowing time is mostly February but most farmers are also seen cultivating water melons in the month of December-January to reap good harvest during the tourist season when it is at its peak. The coastal belt of Canacona has more demand for this fruit, he added.

Mr Desai said that around 2-2.5 kg of seeds are required per hectare and general spacing adhered to is 200 cm x 60 cm. He pointed out that the first flowering takes place in 40-45 days after the seed is sown. Generally fruits are seen on alternate nodes. The main creeper further divides into multiple creepers. Mr Amolkar informed that market rates of water melons vary from Rs 7,000 to Rs 15,000 per metric tonne, depending on the temperature.

Meanwhile, Mr Prabhat Amolkar, who also has chilli plantation, said that the chillies this season are good as he followed instructions from the agriculture officials. "This year, I found no defects or problems with my chilli plantation." He further said that he followed the advice of these officials who instructed him to dip the roots of chilli seedlings in chlorophyriphos mixture for 15 minutes before transplantation which helped in keeping the pests and insects at bay. Use of ammonium sulphate in lieu of urea during the top-dressing also developed resistance in the crop.