RANGPUR, Jan 11, 2021 (BSS) – Farmers are becoming busy in Boro rice farming as transplantation of its seedlings started getting momentum in Rangpur agriculture region during the current Rabi season.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said the government is extending assistance to farmers to make the intensive Boro rice farming programme successful and recoup the crop losses they incurred during recent floods.
Meanwhile, farmers have already transplanted Boro rice seedlings on over 5,000 hectares of land as the process will get full momentum by this month- end in all five districts of the region.
In the meantime, farmers have already prepared Boro rice seedbeds on 26,492 hectares of land exceeding the fixed target of preparing the same on 22,943 hectares of land by 15.47 percent across the region till Sunday.
“A target of producing over 21.54 lakh tonnes of clean Boro rice (32.31 lakh tonnes of paddy) has been fixed from 4.96 lakh hectares of land for the region this season,” Deputy Director of the DAE at its regional office Md Moniruzzaman told BSS today.
Under the programme, farmers will produce 9.20 lakh tonnes of hybrid variety Boro rice from 1.90 lakh hectares of land, 12.31 lakh tonnes of high yielding variety rice from 3.04 lakh hectares and 3,045 tonnes of local variety Boro rice from 1,500 hectares of land.
“The DAE with other related organisations, Power Development Board and Rural Electrification Board are ensuring smooth supply of seeds, fertilisers and electricity to farmers to ensure smooth Boro rice cultivation this season,” Moniruzzaman said.
Farmers are adopting conservation based agriculture technologies like Alternate Drying and Wetting irrigation method while farming Boro rice to save irrigation water for increasing rice output at reduced costs in the region.
Talking to BSS, farmer Ariful Haque of village Najirdigar in Rangpur said he is continuing transplantation of Boro rice seedlings on his 6.50 acres of land this season to recoup the crop losses caused by recent floods to his Aman rice crop.
Farmers Abdur Rahim, Dulal Chandra, Abdus Salam, Babar Ali, Sukumar Roy and Mokarram Hossain of different villages in Rangpur said their Boro rice seedlings were ready to complete the transplantation process by the next two weeks.
Senior Coordinator (Agriculture and Environment) of RDRS Bangladesh Mamunur Rashid said transplantation of Boro rice seedlings continues in full swing in riverine char areas of the region where farers incurred huge crop losses during recent floods.
“Following substantial assistance being extended to farmers by the government, they are expected to bring more land under Boro rice cultivation than the fixed farming target to recoup the crop losses they incurred during recent floods in the region,” he hoped.
Agriculturist Dr Md Abdul Mazid, who got the Independent Medal 2018 (food security), suggested farmers would get maximum yield of Boro rice by completing transplantation of Boro rice seedlings by mid-February.
He put special emphasis on expanding use of conservation based agriculture technologies in farming Boro rice to further enhance rice output reducing lifting of underground water, saving electricity and improving the environment and ecology.