Boro paddy harvest starts amid festivity in Rajshahi, Rangpur

BSS, Rajshahi :

Farmers have started harvesting Boro paddy at present with festivity by dint of satisfactory yield in the region, including its vast Barind tract.
Farmers have started harvesting Boro paddy at present with festivity by dint of satisfactory yield in the region, including its vast Barind tract.
Now, most of the farming fields have taken an eye-catching look as early varieties of paddy are now in ripening stages.
The mind-blowing yield has created a high hope of supplementing the government efforts of ensuring food security.
At this initial stage, farmers are seen harvesting some high yielding and short duration varieties like BR-28 and local jira varieties. The other varieties will be harvested within the next two to three weeks. Abdul Matin, a farmer of Choitannapur village under Godagari upazila, has harvested 22 mounds of yield of BR-28 from each bigha of land, while last year’s yield was 19 mounds.
He has cultivated Boro paddy on 12 bighas of land this season saying all of his farming conditions are very much optimistic.
Golam Mostofa, 56, another farmer of Kacharipara village, who have brought 15 bighas of land under the paddy farming this season. He has harvested a few parts of the paddy attaining 23 mounds of yield of jira variety from per bigha of land.
Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer Atanu Sarker said the farmers are now delighted over their achieved yield. Meanwhile, Boro farming has exceeded the target by 8,151 hectares of land in Rajshahi division this season.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) had set the target of producing 34.62 lakh tonnes of rice from 8.18 lakh hectares of land in all eight districts of the division during the current season.
But, fortunately, the enthusiastic farmers have brought 8.26 lakh hectares of land generating scopes of additional rice production, Shamsul Wadud,
Additional Director of DAE, said. Around 7.31 lakh small and marginal farmers were given support of high yielding seed and fertilizer free of cost under the government’s agricultural incentive programme in the division.
Of those, 4.30 lakh farmers were brought under the support of high yielding seeds, while 2.51 lakh others under seed and fertilizers for cultivating boro paddy on one bigha each.
Jakir Hossain, 54, a farmer of Hatibandha village under Godagari upazila, has cultivated paddy on 20 bighas of land this season whereas the previous season’s acreage was 15 bighas.
Good yield and enhanced selling prices of both paddy and straw have encouraged him to cultivate the paddy on more lands.
“I have sold only straw worth around Taka 75,000 in addition to the paddy last season,” Hossain said, adding that many of his co-villagers have attained success in paddy farming. Currently, businessmen and wholesalers purchase paddy and straw from the farmers’ field directly as the grassroots growers are being benefited in many ways, said Hossain.
He added that the price of both paddy and rice during the previous Boro, Aush and Aman were seen to increase as a result of government-level rice procurement drives inspiring the farmers to cultivate Boro paddy on more lands. Sarker also said the farmers can harvest some of the advanced varieties including BR-28 within the next five to six days.
“I’ve got a better price of the latest Aman paddy. So, I have cultivated Boro paddy on 10 bighas of land,” said Abu Rahman, a farmer of Gubirpara village under Tanore upazila, adding that the farmers are happy over the paddy cultivation.
Abul Kashem, a farmer of Mayamari village under Niamatpur upazila, said he has cultivated paddy on 18-bigha of land this season.
In the previous season, farmers produced around 32.50 lakh tonnes of Boro rice from 8.18 lakh hectares of land in the division.
BSS from Rangpur adds: The harvesting of Boro rice has just begun with an excellent yield rate at the initial stage of predicting a bumper production of the major cereal crop in Rangpur agriculture region.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said the farmers have already completed harvesting of Boro rice in 9,157 hectares of land or 1.80 percent of the cultivated land area with an excellent average yield rate of 3.60 tonnes of clean rice per hectare. Harvest of Boro rice will get momentum from the beginning of the next month in the region during the current season.
Meanwhile, farmers expressed their happiness over the present excellent market price of newly harvested Boro paddy in all five districts of the region.
The DAE officials said a target of producing 22,30,219 tonnes of clean Boro rice (33,45,329 tonnes of paddy) from 5,07,050 hectares of land for all five districts in the region this season.
“Enthusiastic farmers, however, have finally transplanted Boro rice seedlings on over 5,06,525 hectares of land or 99.90 percent against the fixed farming target this time,” said Additional Director of the DAE’s Rangpur region Md. Aftab Hossain.
To ensure smooth cultivation of Boro rice, the DAE, Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited and Rural Electrification Board and other related organizations are ensuring supply of fertilisers and electricity to the farmers across the region.
Alongside with the mainland, farmers have brought more low-lying char lands, dried-up beels and riverine areas under Boro rice farming in the region where harvest of the crop has already begun and will complete before commencement of the next rainy season.
Tender Boro rice plants are growing fabulously amid favorable climatic conditions this season in the region.
Many farmers are adopting conservation agriculture (CA)-based technologies, including Alternate Wetting and Drying irrigation methods and organic pests’ management while farming of Boro rice to save water and increase rice output at reduced costs.