Bidhan Mondal, a 42-year-old farmer from Paikgachha upazila in Khulna, is drawing attention by growing 173 varieties of local and foreign fruits and vegetables on canal banks he leased, turning wasteland into productive land. With help from the Department of Agricultural Extension and advice from local officials, Bidhan used a 15-acre leased canal and 33 acres of adjacent abandoned banks to plant off-season watermelons, rock melons, pumpkins, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, yard-long beans and many other crops. He has planted about 30,000 watermelon vines expected to yield 60,000 to 65,000 fruits weighing between 2.5 and 8.5 kilograms each, and 24,000 rock melon plants that produce three to four fruits per plant. Selling at around Tk 60 per kilogram, he expects about Tk 15 lakh from these harvests, and he already markets about 200 kilograms of vegetables each week. He sourced foreign seeds from countries such as Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, and learned new techniques from online farming groups and guidance from local agriculture officers. He applies organic manure along with quality crop protection products to prevent disease, and his total investment has reached Tk 36 lakh with projected returns over Tk 10 lakh if all goes well. The project has also created daily work for 40 to 45 local men and women, and landowners who once left fields idle now earn rent or share in the profits. Neighbors praise his work for changing a once-neglected riverside into a green, busy farm that supports families and sparks new ideas. Mondal says his life improved after hard times, and that smart use of land and local advice helped him move from small fish ponds to this larger mixed farming model. Officials call his effort a model for saline-prone coastal lands where foreign varieties and mixed farming can boost income. They say mixing fish farming with diverse crops and using tolerant varieties can increase yields and provide steady food and income. The farmer and local leaders hope authorities will fix poor road links that make transport costly, and they ask for a new two-kilometer road to ease market access. Local authorities, including the Paikgachha Upazila Agriculture Officer and the UNO, have highlighted how this approach could be copied across other coastal zones to make more land productive. They are urging extension teams to run training and help farmers access tolerant seeds and small loans. If local roads and market links improve, more families could earn steady pay and local markets could get fresher produce year-round. With harvests due soon, this canal-bank farming is already inspiring other farmers in the region to try mixed crops, which could spread steady income, create jobs, build skills and help coastal communities use land more wisely.
