Farmers have cultivated Boro paddy on around 6.25 lakh hectares of land exceeding the target set by Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in ten districts under Khulna division this season.
The ten districts are-Jashore,Narail, Jhenidah, Magura, Kushtia, Chuadanga, Meherpur, Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat. At present, most of the paddy fields have taken an eye-catching look as the varieties of paddy have ripened in the south-western districts.
“We had fixed the target of bringing around 6.23 lakh hectares of land under the paddy farming but the growers cultivated the same on 6.25 lakh hectares creating scopes of producing 25.67 lakh tonnes of rice in the division,” said Additional Director of DAE, Jashore region Nirmol Kumar Dey.
He also that the farmers are harvesting the early varieties of the Boro paddy amid festivity with a hope of getting good yield. Agriculturist Nirmol Kumar Dey said the prevailing suitable weather has made the paddy farmers optimistic of getting good yield of Boro paddy in the region. Currently, farmers are passing their busy days in harvest of Boro paddy. Talking to the Bangladesh Post, Ruku, 50, a farmer of Amada village under Lohagora upazila in Narail, said that he has cultivated paddy on one and half acre of land.
Chinmoy Roy, deputy director of Narail DAE, said that paddy farming area has been enhanced this year due to good condition of present paddy market.35 percent harvest had already been completed till May 10,he added. “We have started harvest the Boro paddy successfully. Now, the best weather help to harvest the paddy. If this weather remain last week of this month,farmers harvested their ripened paddy successfully ,” said Alomgir Khan, 48, another farmer of the village under the upazila. He added that the advanced varieties paddy were harvested recently.
Kazi Abdul Mannan, Additional Director of DAE in Khulna region, said that the DAE and other agriculture-related organisations, Power Development Board and Rural Electrification Board are ensuring smooth supply of seed, fertilizers
and electricity to the farmers to ensure smooth Boro paddy cultivation.
Abdul Mannan said, the agri-officials particularly the field level sub assistant agriculture officers provided the farmers with the latest agri technologies to increase the Boro paddy production side by side with imparting them with need base training on how to apply the technologies practically in the paddy field to get desired output.
The farmers have adopting conservation agriculture technologies in farming Boro paddy to increase its output reducing lifting of underground water, saving electricity and improving environment, he added. He said the farmers were imparted training on how to adopt conservation agriculture technologies like Alternate Drying and Wetting irrigation method at a larger scale then farming of Boro paddy to save irrigation for increasing its output at reduced costs.
The marginal farmers were provided necessary fertilizers like Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Murat of Potash (MoP) as incentives to facilitate smooth Boro paddy farming,he added.#
