Mustard farmers are very happy getting a bumper production of mustard and excellent market price after completing harvest of the oil seeds last week in Rangpur agriculture region.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said a target of producing 53,733 tonnes of mustard from 38,710 hectares of land was fixed for all five districts in the region during the current Rabi season.
"Farmers finally cultivated mustard on 39,290 hectares of land exceeding the fixed farming target by 580 hectares or 1.50 percent this season," Additional Director of the DAE's Rangpur region Agriculturist Md. Tauhidul Ikbal said.
Farmers cultivated mustard on 7,700 hectares of land in Rangpur, 10,115 hectares in Gaibandha, 13,980 hectares in Kurigram, 1,940 hectares in Lalmonirhat and 5,555 hectares of land in Nilphamari districts this time in the region. "After completing harvest of the crop, farmers have produced 57,370 tonnes of mustard in the region, also exceeding the fixed production target by 3,637 tonnes or 6.77 percent this season," he said.
Farmers achieved an excellent average yield rate of 1.46 tonnes of the oil seeds per hectare of land following expanded cultivation of its high yielding varieties evolved by Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI).
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Deputy Director of the DAE for Rangpur, Agriculturist Md. Obaidur Rahman Mandal said farmers mostly cultivated high yielding varieties of mustard like BARI Sarisa-14, BARI Sarisa-15 and BARI Sarisa-18 and other varieties this time.
The DAE and other agriculture related departments extended assistance to farmers to make the intensive mustard cultivation programme a success. The government also distributed mustard seeds and fertilizers free of cost as special incentives among small and marginal farmers to cultivate mustard on one bigha of land each.
"Despite crop diversification and cultivation of Aman rice on more land during the last season, farmers exceeded the fixed mustard farming target by bringing more land under cultivation of the highly profitable crop this season," Mandal added.
Market sources said the newly harvested mustard oilseed is currently being sold at rates between Taka 3,500 and Taka 4,000 per mound (every 40 kg) in local markets depending on the quality and variety of the oil seeds.
"In the beginning of the harvesting of mustard last month, the oil seeds were being sold at rates between Taka 2,800 and Taka 3,000 per mound (every 40 kg)," said mustard trader Mohsin Ali at Shotibari Bazar in Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur.
Talking to BSS, Senior Coordinator (Agriculture and Environment) of RDRS Bangladesh Agriculturist Mamunur Rashid appreciated various pragmatic steps taken by the government to expand mustard farming and increase its output for attaining self-reliance on edible oil.
"Expanded farming of high yielding varieties of mustard adopting latest technologies is contributing to increasing production of the crop creating a new hope of meeting local demand of edible oil reducing dependence on its import in the future," he added. Farmers Manik Mian, Solaiman Ali, Dulal Chandra Roy, Amenur Rahman, Sohel Rana, Iqbal Hossain and Mohammad Ali of different villages in Rangpur said they were very happy getting bumper mustard production with lucrative prices
