Chinese hybrid watermelons bloom in Kashmir’s Islamabad district
Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, an 18-year experiment by a farmer in Wantrag area of south Kashmir’s Islamabad district has transformed the Pakhtoon settlement into a 1,000-kanal watermelon hub, with Chinese hybrid varieties now drawing buyers from across the valley.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Muhammad Aslam Khan, 46, who introduced watermelon cultivation in the village in 2008, this season planted two Chinese hybrid varieties on two kanals. One has a zebra-striped green rind with yellow flesh, while the other has a yellow rind with red flesh.
“Buyers are showing keen interest, especially in the yellow-fleshed fruit,” Khan said. The seeds, sourced from Bengaluru and originally developed in China, cost around Rs 40,000 per kg. Yellow hybrids sell for Rs 70 per kg, while other varieties fetch Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kg. Khan’s Pakhtoon Hi-Tech Green Nursery now spans nearly 70 kanals and employs a dozen workers. He expects production to reach 1,000 quintals this season, up from 250 quintals already harvested. Last year, watermelon cultivation in the village earned over Rs 2 crore.
This year, local growers expect returns to double as the area under cultivation has expanded to over 1,000 kanals, with nearly 80 percent of households now growing watermelons. Educated youth have also joined the trade. Umar Nazir and his brother Mohsin have expanded their farm to 30 kanals and supplied around 20 lakh seedlings across Kashmir. History postgraduate Tawseef Pathan said farming offered a stable livelihood and prompted him to expand his own cultivation.
Farmers credit schemes like HADP and Per Drop More Crop for better irrigation and yields. With vermicompost-based organic practices, Wantrag’s melons weighing 6 to 9 kg on average, and some up to 14.5 kg, are being sold directly to buyers without middlemen.“What was once considered possible only in the plains, we proved can grow in the mountains of Kashmir,” Khan said.
