RANGPUR, Nov 22, 2019 (BSS) – The Department of Agriculture Extension
(DAE) has fixed a record production target of 23.34-lakh tonnes of maize from
2.30-lakh hectares of land for Rangpur division during this Rabi season.
The DAE officials said the fixed maize production target of 23.34-lakh
tonnes this time is higher by the fixed a production target of 17.17-lakh
tonnes of maize from 1.88-lakh hectares of land during the last Rabi season.
“The farmers finally cultivated maize on 2.19-lakh hectares of land and
produced 21.49 lakh tonnes of the crop exceeding the fixed target last season
in the division,” said Deputy Director of the DAE at its regional office here
Agriculturist Md Moniruzzaman.
Considering popularisation of maize farming and its growing local demand,
the DAE has fixed an all-time record target of producing 23.34-lakh tonnes of
maize this time, higher by 1.44-lakh tones than the achieved production
during last Rabi season.
Moniruzzaman said farmers are showing growing interest in maize farming
after getting its repeated bumper production with lucrative market price in
the division in recent years.
The farmers completed sowing of maize seed on 30,000 hectares of land till
Thursday as sowing of its seed continues in full swing in all eight districts
under two regions in the division.
Under the program, 10.12-lakh tonnes of maize will be produced from 99,636
hectares of land in five districts of Rangpur agriculture region and 13.21-
lakh tonnes from 1.30-lakh hectares of land in three districts of Dinajpur
agriculture region this season.
“Cultivation of maize has become popular among farmers both on the main
land and riverine char areas bringing economic self-reliance and improving
living standard by cutting their poverty in last eleven years,” he said.
Like in the previous seasons, the char people are cultivating maize on
char lands on the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla, Jamuna, Dudhkumar, Kartoa,
Ghaghot, Atrai and other river basins this season.
Farmers Aminul Islam, Sukumar Roy, Anup Kumar, Solaiman Haque, Nur
Mohammad and many others of different villages in Rangpur Sadar upazila said
they are sowing maize seed after harvesting Aman rice crop on the same land
now.
Farmers, Akbar Hossain, Bahar Uddin, Mominul Islam and Abdus Sobhan of
Parbotipur upazila in Dinajpur said they are sowing maize seed in full swing
after completing harvest of short duration Aman rice crop on their lands.
Char people Saidul Haque, Minhajul Islam and Faruk Hossain of different
char village son the Teesta riverbed in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur said
they are cultivating maize on more lands this time after getting better
production and profits last year.
Talking to BSS, agriculturist Dr. Md. Abdul Mazid, who got the
Independence Medal (food security) last year, stressed on popularisation of
the low-irrigation water consuming maize cultivation to gradually reduce Boro
farming for saving huge underground water.
“The farmers can get maximum output of maize adopting conservation
agriculture based technologies like zero tillage and using seed planters to
reduce farming costs and increase yield rate in the northern region,” he
said.
Maize is being used extensively as fodder of domestic animals and poultry
birds though different foodstuffs could be prepared with maize and consumed
to change food habits to meet nourishment of the population reducing pressure
on rice.
Additional Director of the DAE for Rangpur region Muhammad Ali said
cultivation of maize is being expanded by farmers every year after they got
its repeated bumper output and huge profits becoming self-reliant in recent
years.
“The government is distributing special agriculture incentives among small
and marginal farmers to increase maize production during the current Rabi
season like in the previous seasons in the division,” he said, predicting a
bumper maize production.