Bumper crop, but no buyers for melon in lockdown

HYDERABAD: Coastal farmers in Keti Bunder, Thatta district were happy on getting an abundant melon crop this year after a long time, but the lack of customers in the market has dampened their mood.

The crop was cultivated on around 15,000-20,000 acres, with a majority of farmers now facing uncertainty due to the lockdown and low demand.

Despite the situation, some farmers took an initiative and hired vehicles to reach the markets in Karachi with their produce; however they found mostly small-scale vendors, who had no appetite for a large quantity of melons.

This situation has increased problems for farmers who cultivated the crop on 15-20 acres or more.

They cultivated the crop, keeping in mind the huge demand in the entire country, including Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In fact, melons produced in Punjab come to the market later. Thus, allowing farmers in Sindh to supply the produce earlier.

However, farmers said large-scale businesses have not been showing interest in buying this fruit.

It is a short-term crop, which takes 30-40 days to mature. It is consumed largely as fresh fruit and salad because of its distinct taste, sweetness, and flavour.

Reports gathered from the farmers show that the coastal region in Thatta district was considered the hub of melon farming 30-40 years ago. But later, a mysterious crop disease started destroying the crop, forcing many farmers to stop risking its cultivation.

Gulab Shah, a leading farmer claims to have cultivated melon on 20 acres for the first time after 1999, because of fear of fungus attacks, which had caused colossal loss to the family.

He said that during 1988-89, frequent fungus attacks on melon and watermelon both caused colossal losses to farmers. Following that, majority of growers were reluctant to cultivate these plants. “Only a few farmers managed to save their crops with the help of chemical inputs,” he explained.

Presently, farmers are expecting to receive 150-200 maund/acre. If they sell at Rs1,000/maund it is enough for the producers. Sometimes, the value of per acre melon crop goes up to Rs400,000, depending on the market.

For now, farmers are faced with uncertainty in not only supplying their produce to the market due to the lockdown, but also in finding customers. Since melons are perishable, their losses can be huge and extremely difficult to sustain, especially for small-scale farmers.

It is common cry among melon and water melon producers in different areas of the province that they cannot save their crops due to frequent viral attacks in the fields.

Mustafa Nangraj, deputy director at Sindh Agriculture Extension department and renowned researcher in agriculture, sharing his understanding about fungus in melons, blames this on untested seed varieties. “Farmers have a mindset to experiment with new varieties of melon seeds, which are mostly not pre-tested in the local environment,” he explained.

The farmers receive hybrid seeds from contractors every year and cultivate the same without knowing whether the environment suited the seeds or not. “Farmers are being betrayed by contractors, who always offer new hybrid seed varieties to them and suggest it for cultivation. Farmers are not equipped to manage the powdery in its early stage; they always face huge loss due to destruction.”

He said this worked in favour of contractors, who usually being permanent clients bought the product in bulk from farmers.

Nangraj pointed out that there was humidity in the lower parts of Sindh, which causes fungus problems on the melon crop. Therefore, melon cultivation was shifted to upper parts of the province, where farmers do not have the humidity issue.

He suggested using pretested weather-friendly seeds, which should survive in the area.

Reports show that there were many hybrid seed varieties, which were not pretested here. Therefore, they could not survive in the local environment and producers always faced losses.

Altaf Mahesar of Basic Development Foundation (BDF), leading farmers’ network in Dadu district for promoting organic crops and conserving indigenous and traditional seed varieties, believes that melon was an organic crop long ago, which did not need chemical input and more water. “It needs little water and grows without chemical input.”

However, he said Sindh farmers have lost original seeds and now have become dependent on certain seed dealers and companies. “Now, only farmers in River Indus catchment area, desert parts of Tharparkar, Umerkot and Kohistan region enjoy these organic products in monsoon season.”

Farmers in all barrage areas do not have original seeds of melons and watermelons to cultivate every year. They should start procuring indigenous seeds, which if saved could be used for the next year to survive and prevent dependency on seed dealers.

In many areas of the province farmers have lost these melon and watermelon crops permanently because of increasing salinity, as these crops grow in fertile land. Farmers term it a futile attempt. They hold increasing salinity, extreme heat waves, and frequent fungus attacks responsible for forcing producers in abandoning these crops.