BSS, Rangpur :
Farmers have exceeded the fixed production target of Aman rice by 2.60 percent this season despite last year’s flood’s wrath in Rangpur agriculture region.
After getting a bumper production of the crop, farmers are also happy with its excellent prices between Taka 1,100 and Taka 1,150 per maund (every 40 kgs) in the local markets.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said farmers have already completed Aman rice harvest on the total cultivated land area of 6,09,723 hectares by last week in the region.
“Farmers have produced 17, 63,950 tonnes of clean Aman rice (26, 45,925 tonnes of paddy) exceeding the production target of 17,19,231 tonnes of clean rice, making surplus by 44,719 tonnes or 2.60 percent,” Deputy Director of the DAE’s Rangpur region Md. Mahbubur Rahman told BSS on Monday.
Earlier, the DAE had fixed a target of producing 17,19,231 tonnes of clean Aman rice (25,78,846 tonnes of paddy) from 6,12,451 hectares of land for the region this season.
Before the last year’s flood, farmers transplanted Aman rice seedlings on 6,14,295 hectares of land, exceeding the fixed target by 1,844 hectares this season in the region.
“However, the deluge damaged standing Aman crop on 4,572 hectares of land,” Rahman said, adding that Aman rice plants grew superbly on the rest of 6,09,723 hectares of land amid excellent climate conditions resulting in bumper output.
Farmers have achieved an excellent average yield rate of 2.89 tonnes of clean Aman rice per hectare of land following cultivation of hybrid and high yielding varieties of the crop on more land in the region.
The produced Aman rice include 2,12,390 tonnes of hybrid variety from 61,057 hectares of land, 15,16,466 tonnes of high yielding variety from 5,29,114 hectares and 35,093 tonnes of local variety Aman rice from 19,552 hectares of land.
“After harvesting Aman rice, farmers are continuing the process of sowing seeds of potato, winter vegetables and other Rabi crops on the same land, also creating huge jobs for farm-laborers,” Rahman added.
Talking to BSS, farmers Aiyub Ali, Mohsin Ali, Hamidul Islam, Akram Hossain, Dula Chandra Roy and Iqbal Hossain of Rangpur Sadar upazila said that they have achieved excellent production of Aman rice this season.
Farmer Ariful Haque of village Najirdigar in Rangpur Sadar said he has completed harvest of his cultivated Aman rice on seven acres of land and got over 50 maunds of paddy per acre of land this season.
“Farmers are happy getting excellent market prices of Aman paddy between Tk 1,100 and Tk 1,150 per maund in the local markets,” said farmer Manik Mian who has also got bumper production in the village of Darshana of Rangpur Sadar.
