A total of 170,420 farmers in six upazilas of Jhenaidah district received agricultural incentives of Tk 16.58 crore in 2023-24 fiscal year aiming to boost sufficient and safe food crops production, as well as to reduce the dependency on imported food grains from other countries.
The benefited farmers and the officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Jhenaidah Khamarbari said the incentives have been helping the farmers to reduce their production cost and strengthen their socio-economic state.
Abdul Hakim, a farmer of Shailkupa upazila in Jhenaidah when contacted said he received seeds, fertilizer and cash from his nearest upazila DAE office for cultivating Boro paddy in the last season. He was able to save a large amount of money due to the incentives that he would have to spend for the farming. Further, the cash he had received had helped him in purchasing other farming materials from the market. It will most definitely help him financially, Abdul Hakim said.
According to a source related to the DAE in Jhenaidah, a total of 3,100 farmers received incentives of Tk 32.55 lakh for maskalai, 2,000farmers received Tk 1.80 crore for summer onion in the first phase, 5,000farmers received Tk 89.5 lakh for wheat farming, 8,820farmers received Tk 1.27 crore for maize farming, 37,000 farmers received Tk 2.11 crore for mustard farming, 560 farmers received Tk 13.56 lakh for sunflower farming,120 farmers received Tk 2.51 lakh for groundnut farming, 800 farmers received Tk 24.18 lakh for winter onion farming, 320farmers received Tk 2.69 lakh for mungbean farming, 3,300farmers received Tk 31.84 lakh for mustard farming, 200farmers received Tk 1.87 lakh for khesarifarming and 1,500 farmers received Tk 1.35 crore for summer onion farming for the second time.
The sources said, another 16,000 farmers received Tk 99.92 lakh for hybrid variety of Boro paddy, 300farmers received Tk 28.57 lakh for synchronize Boro farming, 26,000farmers received Tk 1.85 crore for high yielding variety of Boro farming, 11,400 farmers received Tk 25.37 lakh for jute farming, 42,000farmers received Tk 2.87 crore for Aush farming, 3,600farmers received Tk 1.37 crore for summer onion farming in the third season and 6,000 farmers received Tk 42.46 lakh for Transplanted Aman (TAman) farming during the fiscal of 2023-24.The farmers in Jhenaidah sadar, Kaliganj, Kotchandpur, bordering Moheshpur, Shailkupa and Harinakundu received the incentives proportionately, the sources said.
Arifuzzaman, Upazila Agricultural Officer (UAO) of Shailkupa upazila when contacted said the incentives have been playing significant role for the farmers as they will save the farming cost. Moreover, the inputs and materials supplied as incentives for the farmers are of standard quality that will ensure better production.
Sasti Chandra Roy, DAE Deputy Director in Jhenaidah when contacted said, although they had distributed a number of agriculture materials like seeds, fertilizers and cash among the farmers as incentives, they (DAE) did not distribute any chemical pesticides so that the farmers could give emphasis on organic farming or environment-friendly crop production for a safer and healthy Bangladesh.
