RANGPUR, Aug 3, 2021 (BSS) – The fixed production target of Aush rice is likely to exceed in Rangpur Agriculture Region where harvest of the crop is nearing completion with excellent yield rate making farmers happy this season.
 
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said a production target of 1.75 lakh tonnes of clean Aush rice (2.63 lakh tonnes of paddy) was fixed from 62,199 heaters of land for all five districts of the region this season.
 
Farmers, however, have brought 62,090 hectares of land in the region, less by only 109 hectares against the fixed farming target, under Aush rice cultivation this season.
 
Meanwhile, farmers have already harvested Aush rice on 50,806 hectares of land and produced 1,65,907 tonnes of clean rice by Monday at an excellent average yield rate of 3.27 tonnes of clean rice per hectare of land.
 
“If climatic conditions remain favourable, farmers may produce over two-lakh tonnes of Aush rice exceeding all previous production records in the region this year,” said Agriculturist Bidhu Bhusan Ray, additional director of the DAE, Rangpur region.
 
Cultivation and production of Aush rice is increasing every year because of pragmatic steps taken by the government like distribution of intensives in terms of high quality seeds and fertilisers, motivational campaigns and providing technical support to farmers.
 
“Farmers are expanding Aush rice cultivation as an additional crop during the off-season after Boro rice harvest and before transplantation of Aman rice seedlings to enhance rice production every year in recent times,” Ray said.
 
After completing harvest of the less irrigation water consuming and short duration Aush rice by the middle of the current month, farmers will transplant Aman rice seedlings on the same land.
 
“Production of Aush rice increased constantly during the last eight years in the region, largely contributing to ensuring food security amid adverse impacts of climate change,” he added.
 
Earlier, farmers produced 51,722 tonnes of Aush rice from 17,523 hectares of land in 2013 while 59,685 tonnes of rice from 19,205 hectares in 2014 and 61,676 tonnes of Aush rice from 21,063 hectares of land in 2015 in the region.
 
They produced 65,505 tonnes of Aush rice from 21,751 hectares of land in 2016 while 73,543 tonnes of Aush rice from 24,717 hectares in 2017 and 1.23 lakh tonnes of Aush rice from 40, 618 hectares of land in 2018.
 
Farmers produced 1.48 lakh tonnes of clean Aush rice from 47,552 hectares of land despite huge damage to the crop on 7,754 hectares of land caused by floods in 2019.
 
“Besides, farmers produced a record 1.83 lakh tonnes of clean Aush rice from 59,092 hectares of land in 2020 in the region,” Ray said, adding that an all-time record of over two-lakh tonnes of Aush rice production is likely this year.
 
Agriculturist Dr Md Abdul Mazid, who got the Independence Medal- 2018 (food security), said cultivation of Aush rice during the off-season on fallow land has become popular following various effective steps taken by the government.
      
"After harvesting Aush rice by mid-August, farmers are easily cultivating Aman rice on the same land making best use of cultivable land to enhance rice production under changed climatic conditions,” he said.  
 
Talking to BSS, farmers Ariful Haque, Ramjan Ali, Muhammad Ali and Mokhlesur Rahman of different villages in Rangpur said they are now preparing for transplanting Aman rice seedlings on the same land after completing harvest of Aush rice last week.