Watermelon farming
A three-month coastal crop. Tk 30,000-35,000 a bigha to grow, Tk 80,000 to a lakh a bigha in a good year, and a selling window only about two weeks wide.
- Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
- Version 1
- Starting capital
- ৳35,000 – ৳3,50,000 Practitioner verified
- Manpower
- 2 – 10 people
- First sale
- 90 – 120 days Practitioner verified
- Break-even
- 3 – 4 months Editorial estimate
- Kind of work
- Farm · Medium difficulty
What the business is
A three-month crop on the coastal chars, sold in one go. Seed goes down in December and January, the fruit comes off in March and April, and those two months either make the year or break it. The numbers look good: Shankar Mondal of Dakop in Khulna puts the cost at Tk 30,000-35,000 a bigha, and says a bigha's crop sells for Tk 80,000 to a lakh when the yield is good, at 4-5 kg a fruit. That is why planting keeps rising - national output went from 17.89 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 to 35.52 lakh tonnes in 2024-25, nearly double in four years - and why the price has come down: Tk 50-60 a kilo in early April 2025 against Tk 30-35 at the same point in 2026, and Tk 25-30 in Karwan Market. Now the real point. There is one selling window and it is about two weeks wide. In April 2026 in Barguna a fuel crisis pushed truck hire from Tk 35,000 to Tk 50,000 and the traders stopped coming, and then two days of rain flooded the fields. Yasin of M Baliatali had mortgaged three kani of land and his wife's gold and taken NGO loans to spend Tk 3.5 lakh; without the rain he would have sold Tk 12-15 lakh of fruit. His Tk 20,000 monthly instalment was still due. Harun in the same village had 13,000 watermelons lying in the field. There is money in watermelon, but it hangs on the weather and on the price of one truck.
Unit economics
| Item | Range | Evidence | Suggest a correction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly working capital | ৳10,000 – ৳12,000 | Editorial estimate | |
| Selling price | ৳25 – ৳60 / kg | Market quote | |
| Variable cost | ৳3 – ৳6 / kg | Editorial estimate | |
| Gross margin | 0% – 70% | Editorial estimate | |
| Time to first revenue | 90 – 120 days | Practitioner verified | |
| Break-even time | 3 – 4 months | Editorial estimate | |
| Cash cycle | 90 – 120 days | Editorial estimate | |
| Waste / loss | 5% – 30% | Editorial estimate | |
| Daily capacity | 2,000 – 10,000 | Editorial estimate |
What you need to start
- A shallow pump and irrigation pipe, for putting water on and for taking rainwater off. Barguna growers used shallow pumps to drain their fields.Equipment
- Seed, fertiliser and pesticide, all inside the per-bigha cost. No source gives the seed price separately.Starting stock
- Trade licence from the union parishad, municipality or city corporation: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type. Selling off the field may not need it; sending it yourself by truck or to an arat does.Licence
- Knowing when the fruit is ready, and how much water keeps it sweet. Unripe fruit reaching the market has no taste, and once the reputation goes the price does not come back.Skill
- The traders who buy the crop off the field and supply Dhaka and other districts. Keep contact with more than one, because if the one does not come the fruit stays in the field.Supplier
- A coastal char or high sandy-loam plot, measured in bighas or kanis. Barguna had 12,324 hectares under watermelon in one season, of which about 6,000 hectares were in the sadar upazila.Workspace
How the work runs
- 1Fix the land: a coastal char or high sandy-loam ground. Most of the country's watermelon comes from Patuakhali, Bhola, Barguna, Khulna, Bagerhat and Barishal.
- 2Arrange the money first and write down the terms. Many Barguna growers go in on mortgaged land, NGO loans and pawned gold; when the crop fails the instalments keep running anyway.
- 3Choose the variety, and decide whether to keep a late one. The late variety reaches the market last when the price is higher, but it is also the one the rain catches.
- 4Cut drainage channels through the plot before you need them, and keep a shallow pump to hand. Two days of moderate rain is enough to flood the field and spoil the fruit.
- 5Do not overwater. Less water makes the fruit sweeter, as the Dakop grower says himself. More water makes it bigger and bland.
- 6Do not use hormone or anything to force growth. Buyers complained about the taste in 2026 and BARTAN scientists put it down to excess fertiliser, pesticide and hormone. Once buyers turn away, the price falls for the whole area.
- 7Line up buyers before the fruit is ready - several, not one or two. In Barguna in 2026 traders did not come because truck hire had gone up, and one grower had 13,000 watermelons lying in his field.
- 8Find out the truck hire in advance and keep watching it. A fuel crisis took Barguna truck hire from Tk 35,000 to Tk 50,000 in 2026, and that one cost stopped the trade dead.
- 9Time the crop against Ramadan. The Bhola agriculture officer says the price during Ramadan was good and that is why growers did not end up in loss.
- 10Separate out any fruit that has sat in water. Traders will not buy water-soaked watermelon, and one rotten fruit spoils the rest of the load.
Seasons
- JanNormal
- FebNormal
- MarHigh
- AprHigh
- MayHigh
- JunLow
- JulLow
- AugLow
- SepLow
- OctLow
- NovNormal
- DecNormal
Where it fits
- Strong fitBagerhat · One of the coastal char districts where watermelon output is highest.
- Strong fitBarguna · Third in output, with 12,324 hectares in one season and about 6,000 of those in the sadar upazila. But the April 2026 transport and rain shock hit hardest here.
- Strong fitBarishal · Barishal fruit is first to the market in the season, so growers here catch the early price.
- Strong fitBhola · Second in output, with nearly 8 lakh tonnes from Bhola alone in 2024-25. Barishal and Bhola fruit reaches the market first in the season.
- Strong fitKhulna · Dakop grows the late variety, which reaches the market last when the price is higher. The Tk 30,000-35,000 cost against Tk 80,000-100,000 sale per bigha comes from a grower here.
- Strong fitPatuakhali · DAE data puts Patuakhali first in the country for watermelon output.
- PossibleChattogram · Noakhali growers have moved to Chattogram as yields fell at home, and some villages in the district produce crores of taka of watermelon.
- PossibleCox's Bazar · There are cases of watermelon grown on abandoned salt beds here, a way of using land that is otherwise idle.
- PossibleNoakhali · Yields have fallen here and growers are going to other districts for land, which is worth knowing before starting fresh.
- PossibleSatkhira · There are examples of watermelon on saline and fallow coastal land here, and on the banks of shrimp ghers.
Risks and cautions
- HighDemand: There is one selling window and it is short. The main season is March and April; if the buyers do not come then, the fruit stays in the field. In April 2026 a fuel crisis took Barguna truck hire from Tk 35,000 to Tk 50,000, the big traders stopped coming, and hundreds of growers could not sell. Harun of M Baliatali had about 13,000 watermelons lying in his field.
- HighSpoilage: Rain. Two days of moderate rain floods the field, spoils the fruit and kills the vines, and traders will not buy water-soaked watermelon. Growers then have to pump the water out, cut channels to drain it and lift the submerged fruit onto dry ground.
- HighWorking capital: Farming on borrowed money, with the instalments running whether the crop sells or not. Yasin of Barguna Sadar mortgaged three kani of land, took NGO loans and pawned his wife's gold to spend about Tk 3.5 lakh, against a Tk 20,000 monthly instalment. Abdur Rab and his brother in the same area spent Tk 4 lakh on six acres and found no buyer.
- MediumDemand: Supply is rising and the price is falling. National output went from 17.89 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 to 35.52 lakh tonnes in 2024-25. Watermelon that was Tk 50-60 a kilo in early April 2025 was Tk 30-35 at the same point in 2026. Bhola planted 4,000 hectares more than the year before, so the pressure will keep building.
- MediumOther: Complaints about taste. In 2026 buyers said the fruit was red inside but had no flavour and went off quickly. BARTAN's chief scientific officer says forcing fast growth leaves the fruit immature, and that hormone use has risen with commercial planting. One buyer said he bought twice, found the same both times, and would not buy again.
Sources
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