Taiwan seeds to yield juicy, square watermelons in Sangam city

ALLAHABAD: If you enjoy summer for its offering of fresh seasonal fruits, then here is good news for you. Farmers in Allahabad region are fast cultivating watermelons and melons that are not only smaller in size but also in shape of a square using hybrid varieties of seeds.
Further, these varieties of watermelons and melons have a higher content of TSS (Total Solid Sugar) value and are being cultivated in areas like Allahabad, Kaushambi and Fatehpur districts, using the mulch film cultivation technique.
Generally, people have an idea of ordinary watermelons (exterior green and bright red interior) but these hybrid varieties will have other colours like Vishala (yellow exterior and bright red interior), Anmol (green exterior and yellow interior) and Saraswati.
Agriculture expert RS Tiwari says, “Farmers are currently cultivating seeds being brought from Tiawan to yield a good crop in limited resources." He further added “the small sized watermelon and melon in round and square shapes are more in demand as they have a total solid sugar (TSS) value up to 14 to 15 percent".
Farmers, however, claim that they have taken technical guidance before cultivating hybrid varieties of watermelons and melons and a farmer can earn profit up to Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000 per acre.
Currently, hybrid variety of watermelon and melon is being cultivated in Allahabad, Mooratganj in Kaushambi and Khaga in Fatehpur district.
These watermelon are named Vishal, Anmol, and Saraswati which have different colours from inside and outside.
Deputy Director (Horticulture) PK Shukla says “through silver mulching, which is largely adopted by farmers in UP, MP, Maharastra, Punjab and others states, crops of seasonal fruits could be cultivated in lesser amount of water. Crops of watermelon and melon are also being cultivated through the same technique in the region".