Satisfactory lentil yield expected in Rajshahi

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RAJSHAHI, March 13, 2020 (BSS) – Agriculturists and farmers are eyeing
satisfactory lentil yield in the region including its vast Barind tract
during the current season as huge cultivation of its high yielding varieties,
usages of modern technologies and new ideas has enhanced the expectations of
much production.

A team of agricultural scientists and researchers revealed this while they
led by Kamlaranjan Das, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture,
were visiting some of the high yielding farming plots of lentil in different
areas under Paba Upazila in the district yesterday.

Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Shamsul
Haque, Director of Bangladesh Sugar Crop Research Institute Dr Samajit Kumar
Paul, Director (Training and Planning) of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear
Agriculture Dr Jahangir Alam, Chief Scientific Officer of Bangladesh Rice
Research Institute Dr Aminul Islam, Principal Scientific Officer of Fruit
Research Station Dr Alim Uddin and Principal Scientific Officer of Bangladesh
Wheat and Maize Research Institute Dr Ilias Hossain were included in the
visiting team.

In sideline of visiting the plot, Agriculturist Shamsul Haque said around
85,000 tonnes of lentil are likely to be produced from 60,515 hectares of
land in the division during the current Rabi season.

The DAE has set the target of producing 55,165 tonnes of lentil from 38,870
hectares of land in four districts of its Rajshahi Agricultural Zone with
production rate of 1.42 tonnes per hectare while 29,846 tonnes from 21,645
hectares of land in four other districts of Bogura zone with production ratio
of 1.38 tonnes per hectare.

Haque said all possible measures were adopted to attain the production
target of lentils as its newly developed high yielding varieties are being
provided to the farmers.

All the government and non-government entities concerned are motivating the
farmers for farming various water-saving crops including lentil in the Barind
area to lessen the gradually mounting pressure on underground water, he said.

He, however, said pulse farming is increasing gradually in the region
including its vast Barind tract as its cultivation and irrigation cost is
less compared to many other crops especially paddy.

Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute’s senior scientific officer Dr
Shakhawat Hossain said huge lentil output is possible in the Barind region if
it is cultivated on around 80,000 hectares of land, which usually remains
fallow for more than three months after the harvest of transplanted Aman
paddy every year.

More than 1,500 volunteers are encouraging and inspiring farmers to
cultivate the less water consuming crops through water resource management on
behalf of the ‘Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)’ Project.

The Development Association for Self-reliance, Communication and Health
(DASCOH) Foundation has been implementing the IWRM project in 1,280 drought-
hit villages of 39 Union Parishad and three municipalities in eight upazilas
of Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts with financial support of
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation since 2015.

Farmers have started showing interest in lentil cultivation as they reaped
a lucrative market price of the crop in the last couple of years, said IWRM
Project Coordinator Jahangir Alam Khan said.

Meanwhile, Azizul Islam, a farmer of Rajabari village under Godagari
Upazila, said they are cultivating lentil to avoid hassle in getting
irrigation water for paddy, adding that acreage of lentil is increasing day
by day.

Islam said he has cultivated lentil on three-bigha of land this year
without spending extra money for irrigation.

A farmer can get four to five maunds of lentil from per bigha of land. One
maund of lentil is now being sold at Tk 4,200 to 4,300 in local markets, he
said.

He further said the growers here are showing more interest in lentil
cultivation as it does not take much irrigation cost. Besides, they got
abundant production in the last few years.

Prof Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan of the Department of Geology and Mining in
Rajshahi University said the farmers in high Barind areas have to spend much
for irrigation in paddy farming, but lentil cultivation needs less
irrigation. So farmers are interesting to cultivate lentil.