Wantrag (Anantnag), Jul 26: Buyers gathered around Muhammad Aslam Khan’s watermelon field in Cheki-Isherdas, Wantrag, as he sliced open a freshly harvested fruit. The reaction was immediate. The watermelon was yellow inside.
The unusual variety is part of Khan’s latest experiment; introducing Chinese hybrid watermelons in a village where his 18-year journey has transformed the local economy.
Khan, 46, introduced two Chinese hybrid varieties on about two kanal this season. He was also the first farmer in this Pakhtoon village of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district to start watermelon cultivation in 2008. “We introduced two Chinese hybrid varieties on about two Kanals this season. Buyers are showing keen interest, especially in the yellow-fleshed fruit,” Khan said.
The seeds, sourced through a supplier in Bengaluru and originally developed in China, cost around Rs 40,000 per kg. One variety has a zebra-striped green rind with yellow flesh, while another has a yellow rind with the usual red flesh. Khan has also introduced the pumpkin-shaped Century Janat variety with a yellow exterior and red flesh, besides continuing with a black-rind, red-fleshed hybrid. His farm now grows five watermelon varieties. The yellow hybrids sell for around Rs 70 a kg. The Century Janat and Black-rind varieties fetch around Rs 50 percent kg, while the traditional red watermelon sells for about Rs 40 per kg.
Khan planted his first crop on a few kanal in 2008. This season, his Pakhtoon Hi-Tech Green Nursery has expanded to nearly 70 kanal, employing around a dozen workers during the growing and harvesting season. Last year, he cultivated watermelon on 55 kanal and earned around Rs 30 lakh. This year, he expects production to reach nearly 1000 quintals. Around 250 quintals have already been harvested, while another 750 quintals are expected before August. The transformation has spread across Wantrag. Nearly 80 percent of households in the village now grow watermelons, earning it the moniker ‘Water-melon village’.
The area under the crop has expanded from around 500 kanal last year to more than 1000 kanal this season, according to local growers. “Last year, the village earned over Rs 2 crore from watermelon sales. This year, the returns are expected to double,” Khan said adding that the introduction of hybrid varieties will further boost farmers’ profit. He said farmers spend around Rs 12,000 per kanal on cultivation, while returns can exceed Rs 50,000 per kanal. “I also grow three varieties of muskmelon on a 10-kanal demonstration farm,” Khan said. Cheki-Isherdas, Wantrag, is home to a Pakhtoon community whose ancestors migrated from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan more than a century ago.
The residents traditionally depended on apples, walnuts, small-scale farming, and government employment. Kashmir’s horticulture sector remains the backbone of rural livelihoods, supporting around 35 lakh people and contributing nearly Rs 10,000 crore annually to the region’s economy. Farmers in Wantrag say watermelon has emerged as an additional source of income. The villagers continue to practise organic farming, using vermicompost instead of chemical fertilisers. During harvesting, buyers from across Kashmir and the Chenab Valley come directly to the village.
“We don’t depend on mandis or middlemen. The sales are all local,” Khan said. He also supplies seedlings to farmers in other districts, helping spread the model beyond Wantrag. The success of the crop has drawn educated youth into farming. Graduate Umar Nazir, 26, and his brother Mohsin, 21, a mathematics student at the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), expanded cultivation from eight to 30 kanal after earning around Rs 5 lakh last year. They have named their venture Bagh-e-Madina – The Garden Hub, Wantrag. “We expect a four-fold increase in both production and returns this year from our farm in Wantrag,” Umar said. He said they have also expanded watermelon cultivation to Silgam village near Akad in Anantnag and to Pulwama. “In Silgam, we have started cultivating watermelon on 20 Kanals and in Pulwama on 10 Kanals. We expect better production and returns there too,” Umar said, adding that they supplied around 20 lakh watermelon seedlings from their farm to growers across Kashmir.
The brothers own 20 kanal of land and have leased another 40 kanal exclusively for watermelon cultivation. “We also experimented with the Chinese-origin yellow hybrid variety, Century Janat and zebra-striped watermelons on a couple of kanal this year,” Mohsin said. He said they also cultivate four varieties of muskmelon, with the average fruit weighing between 2 kg and 3.5 kg, while some grow to 4.5 kg or even 5 kg. History postgraduate Tawseef Pathan, 28, increased the area under watermelon from five to six kanal this year after earning around Rs 3 lakh in profit last season.
“The returns convinced me that farming could provide a stable livelihood. Instead of waiting for a government job, I decided to expand and will increase it further next season,” Pathan said.
What sets Wantrag’s watermelons apart, growers say, is their taste, colour, and size.
“They are sweeter, have deep red flesh and can even weigh up to 20 kg. So far, we have harvested fruits weighing around 14.5 kg, and we are confident some will grow even bigger before the season ends,” a grower said.
He said the average watermelon weighs between 6 kg and 9 kg and accounts for about 55 percent of the total yield.
“Around 20 percent of the harvest weighs between 10 kg and 12 kg. Nearly 10 percent falls in the 13 kg to 15 kg category, while the remaining 15 percent ranges between 3 kg and 5 kg,” he said. “Only a few fruits grow beyond 15 kilograms and reach 20 kg, but that remains rare.”
Farmers credit support under the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), the Per Drop More Crop irrigation scheme and the J&K Competitiveness Improvement of Agriculture and Allied Sectors Project (JKSIP) for improving irrigation and cultivation practices. “Today, no one in the village is idle. Every educated youth here cultivates watermelon, vegetables and other crops. Everyone earns and lives with dignity,” Khan said.
He urged farmers to make use of their land throughout the year.
“Don’t leave your land idle. You can grow something in every season, even during late autumn and winter, like we do here,” he said. Watermelon is among the world’s most widely cultivated fruits, with China, Turkey, India, Brazil, Algeria, and Iran among the leading producers. While China and Turkey dominate global production, Wantrag’s organic melons have found buyers across Kashmir and created a new livelihood avenue for the Pakhtoon community.
“We proved that with determination, even the mountains of Kashmir can grow what was once considered possible only in the plains,” Khan said. Harvesting will continue through August.
Encouraged by the response to the Chinese hybrids, Khan and the Umar-Mohsin brothers plan to expand cultivation next season, while other growers in the village are closely watching the trial.
