UNB, Dhaka :
Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on Tuesday said farmers have harvested 90 percent of Boro paddy in haor areas and 25 percent across the country.
“The rest 10 percent Boro paddy in haor areas will be harvested within a week. Besides, the harvesting of paddy in the haor areas is being delayed due to the cultivation of BRRI-29 variety paddy,” he said while exchanging views with reporters online over the progress of the harvesting paddy across the country.
He hoped that the Boro paddy will be harvested within the month of June.
Some 4,45,399 hectares of land in the haor areas (Kishoreganj, Netrakona, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Sylhet, Brahmanbaria) have been brought under boro cultivation and of those, paddy from 90.02 percent of the land was harvested until Monday, he said.
Meanwhile, 47, 54,447 hectares of land have been brought under boro cultivation across the country and the farmers have already harvested paddy from 11,88,611 hectares or 25 percent of the total cultivation, he added. He also said some 350,500 workers are working in the haor areas for harvesting paddy and 38,000 workers from four regions were sent there.The minister said harvesting paddy in a short time has been possible thanks to the participation of political leadership, government officials, public representatives, political party activists and volunteers.
During the meeting, Razzaque said the government has taken steps so that the farmers get fair prices of paddy.
In addition to that, the government has decided to procure 800,000 metric tonnes of paddy, 11.5 MT rice (boiled and non-boiled), 75,000 MT wheat for ensuring fair price for farmers and food security among the low-income people during coronavirus, said Razzaque.
The Minister said the government has set a target to produce 34,44,800 MT Aush paddy this season and has already distributed seeds and fertilisers among 3,83,434 farmers.
Secretary of Agriculture Ministry Md Nasiruzzaman, Additional Secretary (administration) Arifur Rahman, Additional Secretary (Research) Kamlaranjan Das and Additional Secretary (Expansion) Mohammad Hasanuzzaman Kollol, among others, were present at the meeting.
