Farmers in Habiganj district have started harvesting transplanted Aman (T-Aman) paddy in full swing. According to the estimation of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), all the paddy is expected to be harvested and stored by farmers within the next 20 days.
This year, Aman paddy has been cultivated on 88,320 hectares of land across nine upazilas of the district, with an expected production of 376,639 tonnes of paddy. After threshing, 251,093 tonnes rice will be produced from that.
Habiganj Department of Agricultural Extension shared this information with Bangladesh Post on Tuesday.
AKM Maksudul Alam, Agriculture Officer of Habiganj sadar upazila, said that farmers cultivated varieties of paddy including BRRI Dhan-100, 103, 87, 90, 75, 49, 39, 22, 23, and BINA Dhan-7, 17, among others.
Among these, BRRI Dhan-100 has yielded 20 maunds per bigha, while BRRI Dhan-87 has yielded at least 18 maunds per bigha. Due to the satisfactory yields, the cultivation of these two varieties will be expanded in the next season.
During a visit to the haor areas of Lakhai upazila, golden paddy could be seen swaying in the wind, filling the air with the aroma of freshly harvested paddy.
Farmers are using combined harvesters to cut the paddy, which is then bagged and transported to their homes using various vehicles. Some farmers are drying the paddy in the sun on nearby embankments and open fields.
Similar scenes were observed in the haor regions of Habiganj Sadar, Azmiriganj, Baniachong, and Nabiganj upazilas.
Azmiriganj farmer Tohel Mia shared that the initial stages of Aman cultivation faced challenges due to floods, which led to higher production costs, causing him concern. However, as he spoke, a faint smile crossed his face, reflecting his satisfaction with the yield. "I’m getting 18 to 20 maunds of paddy per bigha," he said. "It seems I might recover from the flood losses after all."
Md Akhtaruzzaman, Deputy Director of the Habiganj District Department of Agricultural Extension, told Bangladesh Post that 10 percent of Aman paddy fields had been harvested as of Tuesday. He expects all the paddy to be harvested and stored within 20 days.
Meanwhile, the government’s Food Department has planned to procure 3,499 tonnes of paddy, 3,249 tonnes of parboiled rice, and 3,572 tonnes of atap rice from nine upazilas of the district this season.
The government has set the purchase price for Aman paddy at Tk 33 per kilogram, parboiled rice at Tk 47 per kilogram, and atap rice at Tk 46 per kilogram.
