RANGPUR, Sept 14, 2019 (BSS) – The farmers witnessed an all-time record
output of about 1.48-lakh tonnes of clean Aush rice (2.22-lakh tonnes of
paddy) this season against 1.23-lakh tonnes of the same produced last year in
Rangpur agriculture region.
Officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said farmers
produced 1.23-lakh tonnes of Aush rice from 40,618 hectares of land against
the fixed production target of 68,969 tonnes from 26,159 heaters of land.
Despite causing production loss of 28,665 tonnes of Aush rice worth Taka
59.30 crore on 7,754 hectares of land by recent flood, farmers produced 1.48-
lakh tonnes of the rice this season, higher by over 25,000 tonnes of clean
Aush rice than last season in the region.
Earlier, the DAE had fixed a farming target of Aush rice on 54,775 heaters
of land to produce 1.54-lakh tonnes of clean rice (2.34-lakh tonnes of paddy)
in all five districts of the region this year.
“The record Aush rice output was achieved following various effective
steps taken by the government despite losses caused by recent to the crop in
the region,” Deputy Director at the DAE’s regional office Agriculturist Md.
Moniruzzaman told BSS today.
The farmers are happy getting bumper Aush rice output and excellent market
price between Taka 750 and 800 per mound of paddy (40-kg) of the newly
harvested crop in the region.
The special programmes and initiatives of the government included
distribution of special intensives for expanding cultivation of Aush rice,
providing training to farmers on latest farming technologies, technical
support and motivational campaigns,” he said.
Under the programmes, the government distributed special incentives in
terms of Aush rice seed and fertilisers worth Taka 5.75 crore among 34,029
small and marginal farmers of all five districts in Rangpur agriculture
region this season.
“Each of the beneficiary farmers got five-kg high yielding variety Aush
rice seed, 15-kg Di-ammonium phosphate and 10-kg Murrieta of Potash
fertilisers free of costs to cultivate Aush rice on one bigha of land,”
Moniruzzaman said.
He said farmers finally produced 54,492 tonnes of clean hybrid variety Aus
rice from 13,768 hectares of land, 93,366 tonnes of clean high yielding
variety Aus rice from 33,724 hectares and 117 tonnes of clean local variety
Aus rice from 60 hectares of lands.
Talking to the national news agency, farmers Enamul Haque, Nasir Uddin,
Abdur Rouf and Abdus Salam of different villages in Mithapukur upazila of
Rangpur cultivated Aush rice and got bumper production after getting special
incentives this season.
Similarly, farmers Moksed Ali, Azgar Ali, Aminul Haque and Amir Hamza of
Char Goytapara village in Kurigram said they already completed harvesting
Aush rice on their one bigha of land each and got excellent yield after
getting special incentives.
On the other hand, common farmers Mubarak Hossain, Abdul Halim and Rafique
Sarker of Badarganj upazila in Rangpur said they completed harvesting bumper
Aush rice crop on their croplands and achieved a bumper output this season.
Talking to BSS, Additional Director of the DAE for Rangpur region Muhammad
Ali said frequent rainfalls at nights and sunshine at daytimes worked as
tonic for tender Aush rice plants ensuring smooth photosynthesis leading to
healthier growth and bumper output.
“The farmer are earning more profits by cultivating short duration Aush rice
using unused seasonal rainwater during May, June and July at lower costs as
an additional crop on their lands those remain fallow during the off-season,”
Ali said.
“After harvesting Aush rice, farmers have already completed transplantation
of Aman rice seedling on the same land to further increase rice output for
attaining national food security,” he added.