RAJSHAHI, Nov 18, 2020 (BSS)- The farmers are bustling with harvesting
transplanted Aman paddy (T-aman) amidst good yield everywhere in the region
including its vast Barind tract besides making the peasants delighted.
Suitable climate conditions along with frequent rainfall during all the
time of farming season unleashed the hope of getting desired production of T-
aman paddy, concerned people said.
As the present time is appropriate for harvesting, farmers are now passing
their busiest time with it aimed at completing it in due time to plant the
next crop on the same land.
Particularly, the farmers are also very much pleased with the present
lucrative market price for the latest harvested Aush and Boro paddy and rice
in the entire region including its vast Barind tract.
The paddy harvesting activities created employment opportunities for many
needy people.
Nazmul Hossain, 47, a farmer of Gohomabona village under Paba upazila, said
he has got around six tonnes yield of Brri Dhan-75 variety per hectares of
land this season.
Another farmer Jahangir Alam, 54, of Bhujail village under Nachole upazila
has achieved yield from 5.5 to six tonnes of Brri Dhan-51 per hectare on an
average.
Measures with initiative of both public and private sectors were taken to
ensure supplementary irrigation to the paddy fields from the surface water
resources if needed.
Alam said farmers face a great water crisis in panicle initiation and pre-
ripening stages of the farming that needs supplementary irrigation on an
urgent basis due to rain-less condition almost every year.
But, fortunately, the farmers didn’t face any adverse situation. Surface
water resources were also enriched through excavating a canal to ensure
supplementary irrigation to transplanted Aman paddy, over 40,000 hectares of
land in high Barind tract, said Jahangir Alam Khan, coordinator of Integrated
Water Resource Management project.
Meanwhile, Aman paddy transplantation has exceeded the target in Rajshahi
division despite the adverse impacts of both the Covid-19 pandemic and the
flood, creating scopes of producing additional yield of the food grain.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has set the target of
producing around 22.19 lakh tonnes of Aman rice from around 7.66 lakh
hectares of land in all eight districts under the division during the current
season.
But, amazingly, the enthusiastic farmers have brought more than 7.77 lakh
hectares of land exceeding the target by 11,540 hectares braving the current
pandemic and disastrous situations.
Sirajul Islam, additional director of the Department of Agriculture
Extension (DAE), said the farmers are happy after pulling in a good yield of
transplanted Aman in the region.
He said the paddy farming has exceeded the target here significantly due to
favorable weather along with frequent rainfall that contributed a lot towards
successful completion of Aman seedlings transplantation on time.
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) has released seven modern paddy
varieties of the Aman paddy for the welfare of common farmers in the region
particularly in its vast Barind tract, said Dr Fazlul Islam, principal
scientific officer of BRRI.
The varieties are comparatively high yielding, drought tolerant and short
duration than local variety ‘Swarna’ which is prone to various diseases and
insects always affect the paddy.
Dr Islam said farmers have been encouraged to cultivate the latest
varieties through various interventions including block demonstration, plots
projection and supplying of seed free of cost.
He also said the modern varieties have opened up doors in enormous
prospects of food security along with mitigating the crises of irrigation
water.
Parija and Swarna varieties are being replaced by some of the developed
varieties that can boost the Aman output, Dr Islam also mentioned.