RANGPUR, June 12, 2020 (BSS) – The farmers produced a record quantity of 10.41 lakh tonnes of maize exceeding the fixed production target by 2.86 percent during the just-ended 2019-2020 Rabi season in Rangpur agriculture region.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said farmers recently completed maize harvest producing over 10.41 lakh tonnes of the crop against the fixed production target of 10.12 lakh tonnes.
“The achieved maize output is higher by over 29,000 tonnes than the fixed production target of the crop for all five districts in the region,” Additional director of the DAE for Rangpur region Agriculturist Muhammad Ali told BSS.
During the previous 2018-2019 Rabi season, the farmers produced 9.23 lakh tonnes of maize from 92,445 hectares of land against the fixed production target of 7.58 lakh tonnes from 83,192 hectares of land in Rangpur agriculture region.
“The production of 10.41 lakh tonnes of maize during the just-ended Rabi season is higher by 1.18 lakh tonnes or 12.78 percent than the production of 9.23 lakh tonnes during the previous 2018-2019 Rabi season,” Ali said.
Earlier, the DAE had fixed a target of producing 10.12 lakh tonnes of maize from 99,636 hectares of land in Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat districts of the region for the just-ended Rabi season.
“However, the farmers cultivated maize on 1,00,345 hectares of land both in the mainland and riverine char areas exceeding the fixed farming target by 709 hectares of land or 0.71 percent,” Ali said.
He said cultivation of the less irrigation water consuming cash crop having huge demand in the flourishing poultry and animal husbandry sectors is expanding every year during the past one decade bringing self-reliance to hundreds of farmers.
“Like farmers in the mainland, hundreds of the char and riverside people are increasing maize cultivation on sandy char lands and dried-up riverbeds after getting repeated bumper production with lucrative price in recent years,” he said.
The agriculture related government departments and organisations extended assistance, incentives and training to the farmers for expanding maize cultivation to improve livelihoods by cutting poverty.
Talking to BSS, Agriculturist Dr MA Mazid, who got Independence Award 2018 in food security category in 2018, predicted enormous potential to further increase maize output both in the mainland and riverine char areas of the region.
“Maize farming has become a more profitable venture for the farmers encouraging them in increasing its cultivation using latest conservation agriculture technologies like strip tillage to get better output at reduced costs,” he said.
Talking to BSS, farmers Ariful Haque, Echhahaq Ali, Abdul Hakim, Mohir Uddin and Solaiman Ali of different villages in Rangpur said they got bumper maize production and lucrative price of the cash crop this time like in the previous years.
According to market sources, maize is being sold at fair rates between Taka 650 and 700 per mound (every 40 kilogram) in the local markets of the region.