RAJSHAHI, Dec 19, 2020 (BSS)- Around 35.24 lakh tonnes of irri-boro rice are expected to be produced from 8.10 lakh hectares of land in all eight districts of the division during the current season, officials said.
Target has been set to produce 31.86 lakh tonnes of high yielding varieties of rice from 7.44 lakh hectares of land, 3.27 lakh tonnes of hybrid varieties from 61,680 hectares and 7,930 tonnes of local varieties from 3,965 hectares of land.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has set the target of producing 15.34 lakh tonnes of rice from 3.53 lakh hectares of land in four districts of Rajshahi Agricultural Zone, while 19.88 lakh tonnes from 4.57 lakh hectares in four other districts of Bogura Agricultural Zone.
Meanwhile, the farmers are passing their times with nursing and caring the seedbeds of the paddy braving the winter chill and fog at present.
This year, the DAE has set target of developing seedbeds on 39,960 hectares of land including high yielding varieties on 37,239 hectares in the division.
Sirajul Islam, Additional Director of DAE, said all the district, upazila and field level officials and others concerned are giving suggestions to the farmers to protect their seedbeds from cold covering their seedbeds with polythene in night.
He said they are adopting all possible measures to ensure food security through attaining the rice production target everywhere in the region including its vast barind tract to cope with the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic situation.
Some 24,600 small and marginal farmers are being given support with seed and fertilizers in the division under the government’s agriculture incentive programme to boost the boro rice production.
Abul Kashem, a farmer of Mayamari village under Niamatpur Upazila, said he has prepared seedbeds on 25 decimals of land for cultivating paddy on 18- bigha of land this season.
He is now very much hopeful of starting the transplantation of seedlings within the next one month.
Kashem has adopted some preventive measures to protect the seedbeds from any cold related diseases.
Mahbubur Rahman, another farmer of Chanpara village, said he is anxious over the sweeping cold weather.
He along with many of his fellow farmers is passing busy days to protect the seedbeds from cold injuries.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Shafiqul Islam said prolonged cold coupled with dense fog is injurious to the seed health.
The adverse climate condition is also a little-bit detrimental to the seedbeds, but there is no apprehension of any major damage to it, he said.
Regional office of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) has taken diversified steps including farmers training, projection plot and supplying of the newly developed high yielding varieties among the growers to make the irri-boro farming a total success.
BRRI has developed 14 Boro varieties of paddy which are appropriate for Rajshahi region including its vast Barind tract, said Dr Fazlul Islam, Principal Scientific Officer of BRRI.
The varieties are Brridhan28, 29, 50, 58, 63, 69, 81, 84, 86, 88, 89, 92, Brri hybrid dhan3 and Brri hybrid dhan5.
Of those, Brridhan50 is export-oriented premium quality rice, Brridhan58 is comparatively high yielding and Brridhan84 is iron and zinc-enriched.
Dr Islam said the field level agriculture officials, researchers and scientists are reaching the developed varieties to the farmers’ doorsteps so that they can boost the boro paddy yield after the best uses of the varieties.
The conventional varieties are being replaced by modern varieties which are good signs for the region in terms of boosting yield, he said.
He said there is no way but to enhance the rice production through facing the existing challenges of adverse impact of climate change with gradually declining of resources and agriculture manpower.