RAJSHAHI, Nov 15, 2017 (BSS)- Farmers are now very busy in harvesting transplanted aman paddy amidst good yield and expected market price everywhere in the region including its vast Barind tract. The Aman farmers are happy after pulling in a good yield coupled with fair price this season.
“The weather remains favourable and helps the farmers’ completing transplantation of T-Aman seedlings on time,” Additional Director-in-Charge of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Joynul Abedeen told BSS today.
He said the farmers had cultivated aman paddy on around 3,39,000 hectares of land in Rajshahi, Naogaon, Natore and Chapainawabganj districts this season.
They brought 3.18 lakh hectares of land under high yielding varieties, 29,826 hectares under local varieties and 680 hectares under hybrid varieties of Aman paddy.
Agriculturist Abedeen said growers sowed high quality Aman seeds like BINA- 7, BR-48, 49, 56, 57, 62, 71 and 72 and local early variety Basmati paddy while the DAE officials provided farmers with training and necessary instructions to boost production.
This season the farmers were getting a fair price for their crop, which is now being sold between Taka 700 to Tk 800 per mound, said Jahedur Rahman, a farmer of Darusha area in Paba upazila.
“Good Aman harvest was expected this season everywhere in the region as weather condition remained favourable, prices of fertiliser and other inputs were relatively low while pest attacks did not affect the crop,” he said.
“I have harvested 14 to 18 maunds of paddy from per bigha of land, as weather was almost favourable this year,” said Abdur Rahim, a model farmer of Palpur village in Godagari upazila.
Kabirul Islam, 39, a farmer from Katchua in Tanore Upazila, said, “I cultivated high yielding Aman paddy on 68 decimal of land this year and got 25-kg of paddy from each decimal.
It was only 18- kg last year.” He received seed and technical support from the regional office of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute to cultivate the variety and cultivated it on more land next season.
“I cultivated Aman on four acres (1.61 hectares) of land spending Tk 7,000-8,000 per acre and got 35-36 maunds of paddy from each acre.
The new paddy was selling at Tk 750 per maund and I hope to get a profit of Tk 30,000-32,000,” said Anwarul Islam, a farmer of Gogram village.
Dr Bimal Kumar Pramanik, Upazila Agriculture Officer of Durgapur, said favourable weather conditions and timely rain aided in a bumper Aman yield this season and its price was good as well.
Now the farmers are applying scientific methods for cultivation. They do not use excessive fertiliser and insecticides on their croplands, he added.