BSS, Rangpur :
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has fixed an all-time record maize production target of over 9.65 lakh tonnes from 95,450 hectares of land for Rangpur agriculture region during this Rabi season.
The DAE officials said maize farming continues increasing in the region following its repeated bumper output with lucrative market price and growing demand in local markets.
Deputy Director of the DAE at its regional office Agriculturist Md Moniruzzaman said maize cultivation has become popular among farmers inspiring them in increasing its farming at lower production costs to earn more profits.
“For example, farmers produced a record quantity of 9.23-lakh tonnes of maize from 92,445 hectares of land against the fixed production target of 7.58-lakh tonnes from 83,192 hectares of land during the last Rabi season in the region,” he said.
The farmers exceeded the fixed maize production target by 1.65-lakh tones cultivating the crop on 9,253 hectares more land than the fixed farming target during the last Rabi season.
Similarly, farmers produced over two lakh tonnes of maize from 23,117 hectares of land, higher by 44,000 tonnes than the fixed production target of 1.56-lakh tonnes of maize from over 18,000 hectares of land during the just- ended Kharip-1 season.
“The growers produced a total of 11.23-lakh tonnes of maize, higher by 2.09-lakh tonnes than the fixed production target of 9.14-lakh tonnes, during both the last Rabi and Kharip-1 seasons in all five districts of Rangpur agriculture region,” he said.
Senior Coordinator (Agriculture and Environment) Agriculturist Mamunur Rashid told the national news agency that maize farming has become popular among farmers both in the main land and char areas bringing self-reliance to them in recent years.
“Like in the previous seasons, char people will begin sowing maize seed on char lands in the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla, Jamuna, Dudhkumar, Kartoa, Ghaghot, Atrai and other river basins in Rangpur region by the end of this month,” Rashid said.
Talking to BSS, farmers Afzal Hossain, Monwar Hossain and Abdur Rahim of different char villages in Kawnia upazila of Rangpur said they are preparing to sow maize seed on char lands on the vast Teesta riverine tracts from this month end like previous years.
Farmers Echhahaq Ali of village Kathihara, Mofizar Rahman of Khurshadanga village and Asharf Ali of Osmanpur village in Rangpur said they will sow maize after harvesting early Aman rice varieties on their cop lands from early November next.
Talking to BSS, Agriculturist Dr Md Abdul Mazid, who got the Independence Award 2018 Medal (food security) last year, suggested for enhancing maize farming in the northwestern Bangladesh to meet growing local demand of the crop.
“Expanded cultivation of low-irrigation water consuming crops, like maize, adopting conservation agriculture technologies like as strip tillage canreduce farming costs, save huge underground water and improve environment,” he said.
“Maize is currently being used mainly as fodder of domestic animals and poultry birds,” he said adding that different foodstuffs could also be prepared with maize and consumed to meet nourishment of the population reducing pressure on rice.
Additional Director of the DAE for Rangpur region Agriculturist Muhammad Ali said the government is distributing special incentives among small and marginal farmers, like in the previous years, to further increase maize production in the region this season.
