Experts at a farmers’ field day have stressed for enhancing cultivation of Aus crop during the off-season to gradually replace cultivation of more irrigation water consuming and costly Boro farming to ensure food security.
RDRS Bangladesh organised the occasion for harvesting short duration BRRI dhan 43, BRRI dhan 48, BRRI dhan 55, BRRI dhan 28 and parija variety Aus rice on the trial plots set up in village Haridebpur Dakshinpara under Sadar upazila on Tuesday afternoon.
The NGO organised the field day to determine actual difference in crop cultivation periods and grain yield rates of these five varieties of Aus rice suitable for farming on the fallow lands during the Aus season before Aman cultivation.
Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Zulfiqar Haider attended the occasion arranged on the trial plots set up on the field of farmer Nawab Ali as the chief guest.
With Programme Manager (Filed Coordination) of RDRS Bangladesh Marina Ahmed in the chair, over 200 male and female farmers, officials of the DAE and RDRS Bangladesh, public representatives, community leaders, journalists and elite attended.
Principal Scientific Officer of Rangpur Regional Station of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Dr Shahidul Islam, Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Afzal Hossain, Scientific Officer of the On-Farm Research Division of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) in Rangpur Ekramul Haque, addressed as the special guests.
Assistant Coordinator (Agriculture) of RDRS Bangladesh Syeda Nuhera Begum, its Senior Agriculture Officer Anup Kumar Ghosh, Agriculture Officers Shamim Ahmed and Sharifa Pasha, Sub-assistant Agriculture Officers of the DAE Anupam Chandra Roy and Ansar Ali were present.
Agriculture and Environment Coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh Mamunur Rashid delivered welcome speech narrating objectives of arranging the field day for further expanding the most suitable short duration and high yielding variety Aus rice in future.
Forty farmers have cultivated these five varieties of Aus rice on fallow lands in 40 trial plots all over Rangpur division with RDRS Bangladesh assistance after harvesting Boro, mustard, potato and wheat this season to determine difference in grain yield rate and duration of cultivation period, he said.
Farmer Nawab Ali said he has cultivated these five varieties of Aus rice on his fallow lands set up on the trial plots with assistance of the NGO before cultivation of Aman on the same land this time.
“I have already completed harvest of parija variety Aus rice after 87 days of seedling transplantation and got 3.4 tonnes paddy yield rate per hectare,” he said and hoped better production of the other varieties.
The chief guest said farming of Aus crop at lower costs using unused seasonal rain waters must be increased during the off season as an additional and substitute cereal crop to costly Boro farming to increase rice production without hampering Aman cultivation.
