Boro Cultivation target set on 509,094 hectares
The Agriculture Department has set a target for Boro cultivation on 509,094 hectares of land across eight districts of the Rangpur agricultural region.
In the current season, the target has been set for the districts of Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur and Panchagarh in Rangpur Division.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said the department and other related agricultural institutions are providing modern technological support to farmers to increase paddy production and further strengthen national food security.
The government has set a record target of producing 2,308,715 tonnes of Boro rice (3,463,672 tonnes of paddy) from 509,094 hectares of land in the Rangpur region during the current season.
Of this, farmers are expected to produce 1,113,909 tonnes of hybrid Boro rice from 230,316 hectares of land, 1,175,867 tonnes of high-yielding variety (HYV) rice from 277,753 hectares, and 1,939 tonnes of local Boro rice from 1,025 hectares.
To ensure uninterrupted Boro cultivation, the Department of Agricultural Extension, relevant organisations, Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited, and the Rural Electrification Board have ensured an uninterrupted supply of fertiliser and electricity to farmers.
Encouraged by the Department of Agricultural Extension, farmers have adopted conservation agriculture technologies, including the Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) method, to save irrigation water and increase production at lower costs.
Meanwhile, the planting of Boro seedlings has been completed in low-lying areas, chars and riverbank areas. Farmers have brought more low-lying lands, chars, beels and riverbanks under Boro cultivation and are tending the rice plants to harvest the crop before the monsoon season begins.
To obtain maximum yield at lower cost and conserve groundwater, farmers are being advised to use conservation agriculture technologies, particularly the AWD method, along with balanced and organic fertilisers.
Farmers from different villages in the Rangpur region — Lokman Hossain, Nurun Nabi, Ayub Ali, Nurul Alam, Ariful Haque and Sekender Ali — said they have already completed planting Boro seedlings on their lands.
Additional Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension for the Rangpur region, Md Sirajul Islam, said farmers have made their best efforts to make the intensive Boro cultivation programme successful after receiving necessary support from the government.
He said that organic fertilisers have so far been applied to 259,297 hectares of land against the target of 33,112 hectares, while balanced fertilisers have been applied to 266,000 hectares against the target of 198,671 hectares. The programme is ongoing.
He further said that farmers are continuing their efforts to make the intensive Boro cultivation programme successful with the necessary government support.
In the BINA Rangpur region, Director Dr Md Rafiqul Islam has distributed 10 tonnes of seeds among farmers in eight districts. He said that BINA-24, BINA-25 and BINA-14 paddy seeds, along with fertiliser, have been distributed as agricultural assistance to 615 farmers. He added that farmers are also being provided with regular training.
