Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
Aman paddy has been cultivated in 3 thousand 663 hectares of land in Ishwardi this season. Due to continuous rains, most of the paddy is washed away. Paddy became visible after the water receded.
The green nature of the field has acquired a golden color due to the farmers’ hard work and proper care. But the apocalyptic rats hit the golden rice of the farmer’s dreams.
As a result, the farmer has become disoriented. According to the information of the Agriculture Office, rats are destroying crops by cutting about 15 to 20 percent of this area. As such, about 4-5 thousand metric tons of AMAN’s total target of paddy is wasted in the field in Ishwardi. By visiting the main Aman paddy growing areas of Ishwardi, Muladuli, Patirajpur, Baghachla, Arankola fields and talking to the farmers, it was learned about the use of various strategies to attack and repel rats from paddy fields.
It is known that Aman has been cultivated in a total of 3 thousand 663 hectares of land in Ishwardi Upazila this season. Amon’s collection target from cultivated land was 27,839 MT. If 15 to 20 percent of the rats destroy, the target 4,176 to 5,567 MT of rice will be damaged. The agriculture department has estimated that 15 to 20 percent of crops are destroyed by rats on an average of all crops in the country. Here the damage of Aman paddy by rats may not be so much said Agriculture Department.
Farmer Hasem Ali said that even with gas tablets and poison tablets, we cannot protect the paddy from rats. I’m doing everything like a madman, but still can’t get rid of the rats. I don’t know how much paddy I can take home from four bigha land.
Roshan, who planted banana trees in rat holes in the land, said that even with poison, I did not get any benefit. We are losing to the rats. The big concern now is how much rice of hardship can be taken home.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Mita Sarkar said, the torture of rats here is relatively high. We have given various suggestions to the farmers to kill rats. Farmers are rewarded for killing rats. Various materials including poison tablets, poison baits are being provided and advised to kill rats. But he also said that there is no alternative to kill rats to save crops from rats.