Pumpkin flowers are now the talk of the markets of Faridpur. As day breaks, farmers pick fresh flowers from their fields and bring them to market. Each flower is selling for Tk 10. Pumpkins themselves are selling at Tk 50 to Tk 60 a kg. Farming families are thus earning from the same plant in two ways, vegetable and flower.
Pumpkin flowers generally do well in warm, favourable weather. In Bangladesh they are produced well from late winter through summer to the start of the monsoon.
The flowers do not last long but are in high demand. They stay fresh from dawn until morning, and fetch a good price if marketed in that time. Besides being a source of income, they are nutritious, containing vitamin A, vitamin C, antioxidants and dietary fibre. In village cooking they are popular fried, as fritters and in mixed vegetable dishes.
In villages of Boalmari, Alfadanga, Madhukhali, Saltha and Nagarkanda upazilas of Faridpur, pumpkins are being grown in homestead yards, on the ridges between fields and on vacant land. Some grow them for the family’s needs, and others are opening up a way to extra income by selling the flowers.
Local farmer Halim Molla said: “I pick the flowers in the morning and bring them to market. Each flower is now selling for up to Tk 10. A little work brings in some extra money, which is a real help with household needs.” Another seller, Billah Sheikh, said: “The pumpkins from the same plant are sold, and the flowers can be sold too. So the same land gives double the income.”
Retired teacher Kalipada Chakrabarty said pumpkins used to be grown only as a vegetable, but farmers are now earning extra by selling the flowers. In his view it is a small but effective source of income that is becoming more attractive to rural families by the day.
Marketing pumpkin flowers has opened a new prospect in the rural economy. With low growing costs, quick sales and good prices, the pumpkin flower is now not only a cooking ingredient for farmers but an effective means of income.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report