BSS, Rangamati :
Farmers of Langadu upazila of the district become self-reliant and changed their fortune through cultivating watermelon in the current season.
Most of the people were in abject poverty of the areas, now they are leading a happy life with three-time meals in a day and their children going to schools regularly.
Abdul Malek, a watermelon farmer of the area has cultivated the fruits on his 2 bighas of land spending Taka 40,000 and expects that he will earn over Taka 2 lakh by selling the fruit.
Sukanto Chakma, another farmer said he would earn Taka 1,70,000 by selling watermelon under 3 bighas of hilly land without production cost.
Upazila Agriculture officer M M Shahnewaj said a total of 150 hectares of land have been brought under the cultivation in the upazila with the production target of 6,000 tonnes of watermelon.
Officials of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) are motivating the farmers to cultivate the fruit on their land in a large scale to meet the demand of people and make the growers economically benefited, he added.
