Export bonanza: How this Bengaluru farmer makes ₹50,000 a day by growing baby bottle gourds for Qatar market

A Bengaluru farmer has found an unconventional market for baby bottle gourds, growing the vegetable to a specific size for overseas buyers and supplying the produce to Qatar through brokers.

Farmer Karigowda, who owns a 3.5-acre farm in Karlapura Palya in Bengaluru Urban district, grows bottle gourds that weigh around 500 grams each. Unlike conventional bottle gourds, which are generally allowed to grow larger, his crop is harvested young to meet demand in overseas markets.

In an interview with 30Stades, Karigowda said he harvests around one tonne of baby bottle gourds a day during the September-to-December season and sells the produce at around ₹50 per kg.

At a daily harvest of about one tonne, the farmer's reported sales work out to approximately ₹50,000 a day.

Karigowda explained, “At one tonne a day and ₹50 a kg, the value of a day’s harvest is around ₹50,000 or about ₹14 lakh to ₹15 lakh a month. Brokers collect the produce and export it to Qatar. Baby bottle gourds have been very rewarding financially.”

Over a 90-day harvesting period, this would translate into around ₹45 lakh in gross crop sales.